Developments in Brief : NASA Taking Role in Battle Against Malaria

In a new twist in the fight against malaria, NASA has begun work on a satellite project for predicting outbreaks of the major killer disease.

The strategy is to identify temporary local conditions--such as rainfall patterns, standing surface water, drainage and temperature--that will trigger breeding of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Once identified, ground workers can move in to drain water that is a breeding ground for the disease and to apply pesticides--and perhaps preventing outbreaks.

Speed is important because the short-lived, fast-breeding mosquito population responds day by day to changing environments.

As a result of recent advances in remote sensing, NASA’s plan has a good chance of succeeding, project chief Paul Sebasta said.

Once perfected, the technique would be turned over to interested governments or to an international health organization for implementation, a NASA spokesman said. The World Health Organization believes that malaria, which afflicts 250 million people annually, is the leading cause of disability in tropical regions.