Mapping the Important Communicable Diseases of Iran

Although notable advances in disease prevention have been accomplished, communicable diseases are still important at the international scale. Many epidemiologic studies have been conducted about the epidemiology of communicable diseases in Iran, but less attention has been paid to generating an atlas of all disease. Some experts believe that mapping diseases such as malaria is the first step toward establishing early warning systems and managing disease control. In this manuscript, we tried to gather information about the communicable diseases of Iran in a geo-database, and draw maps with high accuracy. Initially reportable cases of diseases were gathered from the Iranian communicable disease control center. Then, these data were arranged in a geo-referenced database in the Arc-GIS software and then the related maps were generated. Twenty five maps of communicable diseases were created in 2008. Some diseases like malaria had considerable foci and some other disease according to their condition did not have a considerable dispersion. Although the history of preparing an atlas of diseases goes back to the 19th century, papers about mapping diseases in Iran are restricted to single diseases or these atlases are not easily accessible. The present article is unique in this regard in Iran.