Mapping the Ebola Virus

Maps in the News:  Tracking the Ebola Virus

The Ebola virus outbreak in Africa is believed to be the worst in history according to the World Health Organization, and doctors from the Center for Disease Control believe it could take months to stop the epidemic.  The World Health Organization believes that the virus has infected 1,323 people, starting in Guinea and spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.  Both agencies have published maps showing the location of the deadly virus.

The World Health Organization features a gallery of maps related to the Ebola outbreak on its Web page.  The top map (above, click to enlarge) shows the locations of reported Ebola outbreaks in humans and animals as of 2009.  The maps also include countries that have had cases of Ebola in humans and animals through 2014 and a map of laboratories involved in researching a vaccine for the disease, including the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Center for DiseaseControl (CDC) published the second map above of the African countries affected by the latest outbreak as of July 20.  The map shows areas of confirmed and suspected cases and Ebola treatment centers and laboratories.  The CDC Web page also includes news updates and statistics of cases and deaths from the disease.

The Aljazeera News Agency published a map (above) created by ESRI and National Geographic using GIS mapping technology to show the location of confirmed and suspected cases.  And CNN published a map showing the number of weekly international flights from countries hit by Ebola (above) as fears grow about the transmission of the disease.

For more information about these maps, please contact the GIS Research and Map Collection in Bracken Library at 765-285-1097.