Published Paper Details:

Leptospirosis is a widespread and potentially deadly zoonosis that is endemic in many tropical regions and causes large epidemics after heavy rainfall and flooding. People living in urban areas are at high risk of rat exposure and leptospirosis. The global burden of leptospirosis is expected to rise with demographic shifts (increase in the population) that increase the number of urban poor (people residing in slums) in tropical regions. The impact of leptospirosis on the slum population may increase with storms and urban flooding due to climate change. Rat fever has been a major threat to the State of Kerala with more than 1,000 cases being reported annually. It causes the highest number of deaths among all communicable diseases in the state of Kerala. At least 100 deaths had been reported yearly in Kerala before 2010. This study is designed to understand and analyze the disease patterns across the state, using Geographic Information System (GIS), and Satellite Remote Sensing (RS) along with climatic and demographic datasets. The datasets have been analyzed with statistical techniques using Geoda Software. As a result, maps, tables, and graphs have been plotted to estimate the most significant parameters. These parameters have been assigned a weight value to prepare a model and Threat Index Map for the study area. This model can be used as a disease early warning system.