Principles of cartographic differentiation and epidemiologic zoning of natural plague foci applied to assess and minimize population health risks

In some South American, African, and Asian countries epidemiologic complications in natural plague foci occur due to people consuming meat of rodents, namely rats, bandicoot rats, guinea pigs, etc. People catch bubonic plague when splicing rodents' carcasses. Our research objects were rules for cartographic differentiation and epidemiologic zoning of natural plague foci that are applied in epidemiologic surveillance performed by plague control authorities in the country. Our research goal was to unify differentiation rules as it will help to more rationally organize epidemiologic surveillance in natural foci of dangerous infections on a large territory (a region, some regions, the country as a whole). We suggest to apply a conventional topographic mapping and to take a list of a map scaled 1:25 000 ("a sector") as a minimum formalized unit for spatial analysis. We recommend to perform epidemiologic zoning as per potential epidemiologic hazards that are characteristic for specific sectors...