USE OF R TO CONSTRUCT A CHOROPLETH MAP TO EVALUATE BOVINE RABIES CASES IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE

Resumo

Rabies is an acute, almost inevitably fatal zoonotic disease, it has a worldwide distribution with significant economic implications related to the death of animals and the expense of their prophylaxis and their control (BRASIL, 2009). According to the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), in Latin America the injury caused by rabies in herbivores is around 30 million dollars a year. In Brazil, this figure amounts to tens of millions of dollars, due to the deaths of around thousands of bovine heads.
The epidemiology of rabies in cattle shows a great relation with the anthropic pressure developed in the geographic space, conditioning the transmitter's ecological behavior, mainly by the offer of shelter and food (BRASIL, 2009). Geospatial analyzes allow the confirmation of man-made changes in space, such as: deforestation, changes in terrain (landfills), among others that cause deep roughness. Antropic actions can cause problems or even make them more noticeable. TAMADA et al. (2009) emphasize the importance of geotechnologies in several agro-business segments as data on deforestation, land use and use analysis, among other applications. According to these authors, all the data obtained by the agricultural defense service can be treated in geographic information systems allowing analysis, manipulation, consultation and spatialisation on the terrestrial surface.