[Jared] Hello,

I'm Lieutenant Commander Jared Rispens.

I am an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer,

and member of the United States Public Health Service

Commissioned Corps, assigned to VSP,

or the Vessel Sanitation Program.

VSP helps the cruise ship industry prevent

and control the introduction, transmission,

and spread of gastrointestinal or GI illnesses.

[Amy] And I'm Dr. Amy Lavery.

I am an EIS Officer with GRASP, or the Geospatial Research,

Analysis, and Services Program.

GRASP is a group dedicated to applying geospatial science,

technology, and data visualization

to address public health problems.

We collaborate with partners across CDC

to study patterns associated with environmental health,

infectious and chronic disease,

public health emergencies, and injuries.

CDC and ATSDR use GIS, or geographic information systems,

to investigate disease outbreaks

or other public health threats as they emerge.

The role of GIS during public health investigations advances

CDC's efforts to stop outbreaks as they occur

in the US, overseas, or at sea.

The GRASP and VSP partnership is important

because we're applying geospatial science

and technology to enhance traditional public

health investigations.

[Jared] GI illnesses can be challenging to control

on cruise ships because of the close living quarters,

shared dining areas, and rapid turnover of passengers.

When a ship docks, illnesses can get on board

through contaminated food or water,

or by passengers infected while ashore.

Outbreak investigations are important to stop illness

from spreading from one voyage to another.

We use a surveillance system

to observe GI illness patterns on cruise ships.

We determine the magnitude of illness aboard the ship,

the pathogen causing the illness,

and the risk factors associated with the illness,

and then we recommend control measures

to prevent the illness or stop the spread.

[Amy] In 2018, we piloted ways to use GIS

to understand cruise ship outbreaks in time and space,

meaning when and where an outbreak occurred.

Using GIS, we developed 3-dimensional models

of the cruise ship.

We then used these 3-D models to map rooms

that had sick passengers and observed

where sick passengers were on the ship

over the length of the voyage.

The 3D model of the cruise ship enabled CDC investigators

to identify links and patterns in the outbreak

by providing a more realistic visual presentation

of the outbreak from multiple perspectives.

[Jared] CDC also used GIS to look

for important spatial patterns during a cruise ship outbreak,

such as a cluster of rooms with sick people.

GIS enabled CDC to see spatial patterns more clearly

than we could using traditional methods.

[Amy] These investigations illustrate the powerful way

geospatial science

and technology can advance CDC's response

to outbreaks on cruise ships.

[Jared] To learn more, please visit the CDC/ATSDR website.