Use of GIS to Evaluate Livestock-Wildlife Interactions Relative to Tuberculosis Spread on Molokai Island, Hawaii

Author: Stephanie Anne Bany
Organization: USDA/APHIS/Veterinary Services

555 South Howes Street
Fort Collins, CO 80521
USA

Phone: (970) 490-7818
Fax: (970) 490-7999
stephanie.a.bany@usda.gov

Historically, bovine tuberculosis has occurred and been eradicated several times on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. After the most recent depopulation of cattle, TB was again identified in an adult cow in 1997, thus continuing the investigation into why bovine tuberculosis is reoccurring on the island. The Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health (CEAH) have implemented spatial analysis using ArcView GIS software that, along with epidemiologic investigations, attempts to identify the environmental factors responsible for maintaining this disease in natural foci. To examine the ecological aspects of tuberculosis transmission from wildlife to livestock, and to identify the foci of infection, we have used a combination of classification analysis, three-dimensional modeling, and various spatial analysis techniques.