Health And Wellness Maps from Ball State University Libraries

Mapping the Flu:  Health and Wellness Maps Available in Ball State University Libraries

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), an early and “moderate to severe flu season” has prompted officials to declare a public health emergency in Boston, Massachusetts.  Over 700 people have been diagnosed with the virus compared to only 70 at this time last year.

The top map above (click to enlarge) shows the geographic locations of the virus in the last week of 2012.  The brown states are areas where the reported cases of the flu are widespread.  Orange shows regional outbreaks, and the yellow-green of the District of Columbia indicates only local cases.  In the first week of 2013, however, the CDC is now reporting 44 states fall into the “widespread” category.

The CDC Web page is an excellent resource for tracking information about health and wellness issues in the United States.  For world health information, the World Health Organization offers an online Map Gallery that includes the surveillance of diseases and other health and safety issues around the world.

The Ball State University Libraries’ Atlas Collection on the second floor of Bracken Library also includes valuable cartographic resources for health research.  The State of Health Atlas includes hundreds of maps and charts related to a variety of health questions, including mental health issues like suicide (map shown above).

The Tobacco Atlas available in the Atlas Collection was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and includes maps and charts about tobacco-related diseases around the world.  The chart above shows the top male smoking populations around the world, with China’s male smoking population equaling the entire population of the United States.

The Allyn Bacon Social Atlas of the United States focuses more on health-related maps and charts in the U.S.  The atlas features maps and charts about birth rates, life expectancy, AIDS, pandemic diseases, cancer, and health insurance coverage (map shown above).

The State of the World Atlas, The State of Women in the World Atlas, Atlas of Global Development, Student Atlas of Anthropology, Growing Up in America, and other atlases in the Collection also include maps, photographs, and charts useful in health and wellness research.  Atlases may be circulated for 28 days or longer, and the maps can be easily scanned for inclusion in papers and presentations.

For more information about the Atlas Collection or other cartographic resources, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection (GRMC) at 765-285-1097.