Animap Timelines: The Space-Time Pattern of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Syria 1990–1997

Leishmaniasis represents a group of tropical diseases caused by various species of Leishmania parasites that are transmitted by the bite of sandflies. An estimated 12 million people globally are affected, with approximately 1.5–2.0 million new cases annually. It is generally an ulcerative disease that may cause lesions on the outside of the body or internally, along with the consequent effects of that ulceration. Cartographic evidence can often be used to find patterns in large sets of data that are widely scattered in time and space. To create a sequence of maps, we employed a sequence of steps, using contemporary geographic information system (GIS) software to gain benefit from the analytic capability of the software. One can see patterns by looking at the monthly static images over the period of a year. In this sequence for 1990, the province of Aleppo seems to be a center for activity, independent of the time of the year.