I’ve just recently expressed my love of GIS and mapping out epidemics or disease, so while it is not nearly as awesome as the previous article, this new article in BBC maps out the spread of HIV around Europe. While one would expect this to be a pretty boring map–after all, it would be assumed the spread of HIV occurs around one’s home–it finds many European countries are large “HIV exporters.” This mostly occurs in tourists or migrants. It’s a quick and easy read.

I like how it was done (high level genetic analysis) and I like the potential of using GIS to track not only endemic diseases (such as malaria) but also contagious diseases. I think a similar map in Africa would be equally impressive–showing the spread of HIV through truck drivers or other highly transient populations.

[Image courtesy of The Shane H via Flickr.]