[Methodology to determine risk zones for sleeping sickness in Côte d'Ivoire by the spatial approach]

Earth observation technology is a rapidly expanding field in which new outlets for sensor data are being found daily. However medical applications are still limited. The main obstacle is the lack of methods to link spatial data to an epidemiological data base within a given disease context. This obstacle was recently overcome in the Sinfra region of Cote d'Ivoire where a number of researchers have been working on human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) for over ten years. A geographical information system was developed to allow testing of various spatial relationships especially between the population density and disease prevalence using various methods of geostatistical analysis. Spot satellite data was then used to draw a map showing population density. The data base was used to validate processing by explaining the presence of errors due mainly to locality. Finally as a first experimental application for this methodology, a map showing the risk of HAT transmission over the entire Sinfra region was drawn based on satellite data.