You probably use Google Street View to look up addresses or explore places, but have you ever imagined that it could be used for public health purposes? This is exactly what happened in Peru, where Google Street View was innovatively used to identify and register stray dogs in the city of Arequipa. You’re not ready to learn how this technology helped deal with a public health crisis and help vaccinate animals against rabies.
The project: a public health initiative
On June 3, 2024, a team of researchers led by Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, scientific director of the Zoonoses Research Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, published a study on the preprint server bioRxiv. Their goal was to mark Arequipa’s stray dogs, estimate their numbers, and vaccinate them against rabies, a disease still widespread in Peru and other countries.
Here’s what the team did:
- Visual marking: Visually identify and mark stray dogs using images from Google Street View.
- Population estimate: Accurately estimate the number of stray dogs.
- Vaccination: Establish a vaccination system to limit the spread of rabies.
Rabies: a public health problem in Peru
The importance of this project is reinforced by the health situation in Peru, where rabies remains a public health problem. Ricardo Castillo-Neyra highlighted the challenges encountered in an interview with Science published on June 24, 2024:
“We were left alone to face the disease. In these countries, rabies does not get the funding or the political attention it should. Specifically in Arequipa, there is a funding crisis. »
Rabies is mainly transmitted from infected animals to humans, making it critical to control the stray dog population. Knowing the exact number of stray dogs and vaccinating them is an important step in preventing pollution.
Using Google Street View: an innovative solution
Asked about the process of counting dogs in Arequipa, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra explained that the traditional method consisted of door-to-door surveys. This process, in addition to being time-consuming, is also expensive.
Due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the project had to renew itself. Using Google Street View has proven to be a practical and effective solution:
- Clear images: Google Street View made it possible to see animals on the street very clearly without leaving the office.
- Increased precision: The data collected was more accurate than that obtained by traditional methods or using drones.
- Citizen involvement: 22 volunteers helped analyze thousands of images to avoid duplicates in dog counts.
Using this method, the team identified nearly 870 stray dogs, making the count much more accurate than in other South American countries.
A citizen project: the strength of community
Ricardo Castillon-Neyra was also able to count on the commitment of motivated citizens. In the absence of veterinary students in the field due to the pandemic, he recruited volunteers via social networks to help him in his project:
“We found 22 people who helped us analyze the thousands of images we had. It was very complicated because we had to cross-check information to make sure we didn’t count the same dog twice. »
Despite this challenge, the biggest obstacle the team encountered was the Google Street View algorithm, which does not map all areas fairly. Some areas have been neglected, complicating the analysis somewhat.
Lessons learned and the future
The use of Google Street View for this study presents valuable lessons for managing zoonotic diseases and other public health challenges. Here are some of the main advantages of this method:
- Reduced costs: Using existing images reduces costs compared to traditional methods.
- Availability: Allows you to get accurate data without requiring physical presence in the field.
- Community involvement: Promotes citizen participation in public health projects.
Ultimately, this innovative initiative demonstrates how technology can be diverted from its traditional uses to address pressing public health challenges. As methods to combat rabies evolve, projects like Ricardo Castillo-Neyras may well point the way.
