Public health officials in Amsterdam, The Netherlands recently tracked down the source of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease using Google Earth.
As reported by the Dutch newspaper Trouw, an outbreak of the disease started in an Amsterdam neighborhood around July 6. Legionnaires’ Disease (also known as Legionellosis) is often spread through air conditioning systems, causing public health researchers to focus on cooling towers in the affected part of the city. But as Trouw reports (translated by BabelFish and edited by AECnews):
A specific part of the city had been designated as the suspected area. But the Labor Inspectorate did not have a list of buildings telling which might have the suspected cooling towers. Employees of the GGD [health department] then examined all high buildings in the centre of the capital using the satellite pictures in Google Earth.
A likely source was quickly spotted, and test confirmed researchers’ suspicions.
Thank to Stefan at Ogle Earth for the tip.
--RSN
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