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Vector-borne diseases
Vector-borne diseases
Seventeen percent (17%) of all infectious diseases are caused by vector-borne diseases. More than 1 billion cases and more than 1 million deaths are caused by vector-borne diseases each year.
Tick-vectored diseases continue to increase affecting food production and loss in economic productivity.
We use geographic information and geospatial technologies to address a range of vector-borne diseases.
Although US$ 50 billion has been spent since 2000, averting 12 million deaths and more than 2 billion cases of the disease malaria cases continue to rise. During 2023 malaria cases increased with over 263 million cases reported from around the world and over 600,000 deaths.
Although US$ 50 billion has been spent since 2000, averting 12 million deaths and more than 2 billion cases of the disease malaria cases continue to rise. During 2023 malaria cases increased with over 263 million cases reported from around the world and over 600,000 deaths.
Mosquito-vectored diseases: Malaria
Mosquito-vectored diseases: Malaria
Malaria cases continue to rise. During 2023 malaria cases increased with over 263 million cases reported from around the world. We map different t parts of the malaria cycle and explore the spatial and temporal distribution of malaria in different parts of the world.
What part of the malaria cycle to map? Determine who is affected? Identify interventions needed?
Temporal resolution
Exploring different temporal climate resolution for mapping malaria risk - hourly, weekly, monthly?
Seasonal variations
Explore seasonal and yearly variations of risk
Spatial variations
Explore spatial variations of risk
Changing trends
Space-time clustering of malaria. Exploring malaria hotspots and examining changing spatial trends.
MOSQUITO VECTORED DISEASES - infect hundreds of millions of people each year, ranging between 700 million to more than a billion. For example , 263 million cases and over 600,000 deaths for malaria are reported annually and 390 million infections reported annually for dengue. This does not include other mosquito vectored diseases such as Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, and West Nile fever. We take different approaches to mapping mosquito vectored diseases depending on the data that is available.
We take an ecological perspective when no human medical case data are available. This involves using environmental related variables such as temperature and rainfall with lab based experimental information (see Blanford et al., 2012; Taber et al., 2017; Kioko and Blanford, 2023, 2025; Blanford, 2024). Since we are examining the potential distribution of malaria this enables us to see how risk changes seasonally and annually between and within years.
When human medical infectious disease data is available we use a variety of spatial analysis methods to assess the spatial distribution of the disease over space and time (see Blanford and Kioko, 2025; Kioko and Blanford, 2023, 2025; Blanford, 2024).
When mosquito information is availabe we use a variety of spatial analysis methods to examine the distribution of the vector (see Taber et al., 2017).
Malaria maps 2000, 2010, 2020 by the Malaria Atlas Project. Figure adapted from Blanford (2024).
Malaria free Suriname
Malaria free Suriname
On June 30 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Suriname as malaria-free.
Suriname became the first country in the Amazon region to receive malaria-free certification. This milestone was made possible by years of commitment by the government and people of Suriname to eliminate the disease across its vast rainforests and diverse communities. The variation in the distribution of malaria and its elimination can be seen over the decades using the maps created by the Malaria Atlas Project.
For more information see the news release by the WHO.
https://www.who.int/news/item/30-06-2025-suriname-certified-malaria-free-by-who
Tick-vectored diseases
Tick-vectored diseases
Ticks and the diseases they spread result in enormous economic impact globally for humans and animals. For example, the economic burden of Lyme disease in the US is estimated to be over $1 billion annually and over EUR 200 million in Europe.
Wouldn't you like to know if you are at risk to a tick-vectored disease?
Wouldn't you like to know if you are at risk to a tick-vectored disease?
This work stemmed from a small study we did looking at the distribution of vector-borne diseases in a small area of the Netherlands. We found that people who tested positive for TBE had mainly acquired this while on holiday in Europe and prompted us to look at this further and create this map.
A vaccine is available that will reduce TBE. We need up-to-date maps that capture risks to tick-vectored diseases in real-time? Here we mapped the known distribution of Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE) based on the data available, however this may not be a complete picture due to data gaps.
To find out more see our paper Beerlage de Jong and Blanford (2025)
Sources
Book - Chapter 6. Health and disease in dynamically changing environments: mapping and modelling vector-borne diseases in Blanford (2024) Geographic information, geospatial technologies and spatial data science for health. Pp376. CRC Taylor & Francis.
Mosquito vectored diseases
2025 Blanford, J.I. and Kioko, K. (2025) A multidimensional space-time geospatial analysis for examining the spatial trends of vector-borne diseases: 20 years of malaria in Kenya. Acta Tropica. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001706X25003092
2025 Kioko, C. and Blanford, J.I. (2025) Malaria survey data and geospatial suitability mapping for understanding spatial and temporal variations of risk across Kenya. Parasite Epidemiology and Control.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405673124000631
2024 Blanford, J.I. (2024) Managing vector-borne diseases in a geoAI-enabled society. Malaria as an example. Acta Tropica.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001706X24002870
2023 Kioko, K. and Blanford, J.I. (2023) Malaria in Kenya during 2020: malaria indicator survey and suitability mapping for understanding spatial variations in prevalence, intervention and risk. AGILE GIScience Ser., 4, 31, https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-4-31-2023
2017 Taber, E., Hutchinson, M.L., Smithwick, E.A., Blanford, J.I. (2017) A decade of colonization: the spread of the Asian Tiger Mosquito in Pennsylvania and implications for disease risk. Journal of Vector Ecology. 42(1):3-12
2014 Paaijmans, K., Blanford, J.I. Crane, R., Mann, M., Ning, L., Schreiber, K., Thomas, M.B. (2014) Downscaling reveals diverse effects of anthropogenic climate warming on the potential for local environments to support malaria transmission. Climatic Change. 125:479–488
2013 Blanford, J.I., Blanford, S., Paaijmans, K., Schreiber, K., Crane, R., Mann, M., Thomas, M.B. (2013) Implications of temperature variation for malaria parasite development across Africa. Scientific Reports. 3:doi:10.1038/srep01300. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep01300
2013 Chen, S., Blanford, J.I., Hutchinson, M., Fleischer, S., Saunders, M., Thomas, M.B. (2013) Estimating West Nile Virus Transmission Potential in Pennsylvania Using an Optimized Degree-Day Model. Vector-borne and Zoonotic Disease. 13(7):489-97
2010. Paaijmans, K.P., Blanford, S., Bell, A.S., Blanford, J.I., Read, A.F. & Thomas, M.B. (2010) Influence of climate on malaria transmission depends on daily temperature variation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, 15135–15139.
WHO (2023) Malaria. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria (last accessed 27 Oct 2023)
Tick vectored diseases
Beerlage de Jong, N. and Blanford, J.I. (2025) Mapping the Risk of Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Europe for Informed Vaccination Decisions. Journal of Travel Medicine. https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/32/2/taae153/7925792
2024 Logan, J.J., Knudby, A., Leighton, P. A., Talbot, B., McKay, R., Ramsay, T., Blanford, J.I., Ogden, N.H., Kulkami, M. A. (2024) Ixodes scapularis density and Borrelia burgdorferi prevalence along a residential-woodland gradient in a region of emerging Lyme disease risk. Nature Scientific Reports 14, 13107. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64085-6
2024 Logan, J.J., Ramsay, T., Blanford, J.I., Ogden, N.H., Kulkami, M. A. (2024) Knowledge, protection, and perception of Lyme disease in an area of emerging risk: results from a survey of adults in Ottawa, Ontario. BMC Public Health. 24, 2024867. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18348-6
2023 Logan, J.J., Hoi, A.G., Sawada, M., Knudby, A., Ramsay, T., Blanford, J.I., Ogden, N.H., Kulkami, M. A. (2023) Risk factors for Lyme disease resulting from residential exposure amidst emerging Ixodes scapularis populations: a neighbourhood-level analysis of Ottawa, Ontario. PlosOne, 10.1371/journal.pone.0290463
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