Use of geographic information systems as auxiliary tools to the analysis of animal capture data in the city of São Paulo

Abstract

By using Geographic Information Systems, this study has assessed the spatial distribution and frequency of dog capture data in several districts of São Paulo City. The main goal was to analyse and map data related to dog capture, to collaborate with the São Paulo Zoonoses Control Center (ZCC), assessing the most critical places regarding this activity. Descriptive and spatial analyses have been carried out for data related to the period from January 2001 to September 2003. The variable "number of calls received by ZCC" showed values and variance higher than the variable "number of calls attended to by ZCC". Moreover, this study has shown that North Zone and East Zone were the most critical regarding dog captures. Among the factors that can be related to the results obtained are dog ecological features, ZCC schedule of activities, estimated household dog population and socio-economical factors for each district. Correlation was observed between the total number of received calls and other variables, such as household dog population and socio-economical indicators.