A dashboard for harnessing the power of geography in Lyme and tickborne disease research

Keywords: tickborne diseases, medical geography, GIS, data visualization
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 36

Abstract

As the incidence of Lyme and other tickborne diseases rises in North America and globally, there is a critical need for data-driven tools that communicate the magnitude of the problem and guide public health decision-making. At the same time, the limitations of geospatial surveillance data related to tickborne diseases challenge the development and usefulness of these tools. We present the Johns Hopkins Lyme and Tickborne Disease Dashboard, an ongoing initiative that aims to advance our understanding of tickborne disease geography, improve public health awareness, and support collaborative multidisciplinary research. With our web-based dashboard, we apply a geographic lens to tickborne diseases, with the aim not only of tracking these diseases globally but also contextualizing their complicated geography with a comprehensive set of maps and spatial data sets representing a One Health approach. In this presentation, we share how we developed the dashboard and demonstrate its main features. We conclude with lessons learned since the launch of the dashboard, notably the need to improve the surveillance data landscape, and discuss some early results from our efforts in this regard.