Stephan Zeeman co-edits and Timothy Ford co-authors book chapter on water quality and health
Stephan Zeeman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Marine Sciences, co-edited a chapter on “Water, water quality, and health” in a new book from the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing: Environmental Tracking for Public Health Surveillance, published by CRC Press.
Timothy Ford, Ph.D., dean of Graduate Studies, and interim dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professions, was a co-author of the chapter.
The book brings together research and application developments that link satellite observations and environmental data with various diseases as a means of producing early warnings of epidemics. Earth observation satellites can monitor changes in the environment that provide clues indicating conditions favorable to outbreaks. Melding those observations with models of disease transmission pathways can help public health officials potentially stop or minimize the spread of disease.
The chapter on water-related disease combines knowledge of the hydrological cycle and links to exposure and transmission pathways as ways to avert human suffering from enteric infections, malaria, schistosomiasis, Legionaires’ disease, amoebic encephalitis, and many others. This chapter brings together information and techniques from global sources on the status of monitoring and developments in predictive algorithms.