HPSS 2008
 PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
Travel flow Scan Statistics for Infectious Disease Surveillance
Ping Yan, Public Health Agency of Canada  *Shenghai Zhang, Public Health Agency of Canada 

Keywords: spatial scan statistic, public health, infectious diseases

The spatial scan statistic is one of the most important statistical tools for cluster detection, and is commonly used in the public health community for detection of disease clusters. A travel flow spatial scan statistic is described for an extension to the usual spatial scan statistic that uses travel flow data to search for disease clusters resulting from travel exposure. An exposure to infectious agents (such as influenza virus) may occur due to a travel from one place to another place. The detection in the early stage of symptoms arising from the the exposure can facilitate public health intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality of such infectious diseases. The statistic described here will take account of the travel flow, which is the movement of individuals between different regions. The objective is to detect clusters of disease in situations where exposure occurs.