Predictive Intelligence for Cholera in Ukraine?

• Published in: Geohealth Vol. 6; no. 9; pp. e2022GH000681 - n/a
• Main Authors: Usmani, Moiz, Brumfield, Kyle D., Magers, Bailey M., Huq, Anwar, Barciela, Rosa, Nguyen, Thanh H., Colwell, Rita R., Jutla, Antarpreet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2022; American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Cholera; climate; Decision making; Disease; Drinking water; environmental; Epidemics; Health risks; Human populations; Hypotheses; infectious disease; Infrastructure; Pathogens; Plankton; Population; Precipitation; Public health; Rain; Sanitation; Social unrest; Sociology; Ukraine; vibrios; War; Waterborne diseases; Weather; Haiti; Africa; Ukraine; Yemen; environmental; climate; vibrios; infectious disease; cholera; Ukraine
• ISSN: 2471-1403; 2471-1403
• DOI: 10.1029/2022GH000681

Cholera, an ancient waterborne diarrheal disease, remains a threat to public health, especially when climate/weather processes, microbiological parameters, and sociological determinants intersect with population vulnerabilities of loss of access to safe drinking water and sanitation infrastructure. The ongoing war in Ukraine has either damaged or severely crippled civil infrastructure, following which the human population is at risk of health disasters. This editorial highlights a perspective on using predictive intelligence to combat potential (and perhaps impending) cholera outbreaks in various regions of Ukraine. Reliable and judicious use of existing earth observations inspired mathematical algorithms integrating heuristic understanding of microbiological, sociological, and weather parameters have the potential to save or reduce the disease burden. Plain Language Summary Predictive intelligence using data for satellites, microbiology and sociology should be utilized to combat potential cholera outbreaks in war torn Ukraine. Key Points The risk of cholera in Ukraine will become significant with the noteworthy presence of plankton in the coastal regions, along with anomalous warm air temperatures and heavy precipitation Earth observations inspired anticipatory decision‐making framework is needed for preventing infectious disease outbreaks such as cholera in human population Regions such as Pakistan with massive flooding may experience similar risks and should be evaluated accordingly