Data and technology are helping New Jersey’s second most populous county combat one of urban America’s most persistent public health menaces, and track communicable diseases like the seasonal flu.
Essex County is turning to GIS and machine learning technology to predict where rodent “hot spots” will occur, allowing officials to take preventive measures to reduce rat and mouse populations.
“We’ve been able to create a program that allows us to go out into the community, start to educate the individuals that live in those areas much more quickly,” said Maya Harlow, health officer and director of the Essex County Office of Public Health Management. “And when we do get those complaints they kind of already know what needs to be done.”…