Exploratory study on the spatial relationship between emerging infectious diseases and urban characteristics: Cases from Korea

In the modern global context of interconnected populations, the recent emergence of infectious diseases involves complex interactions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the spatial correlations between urban characteristics, taking into account the socio-ecological aspects, and the emergence of infectious diseases. Using exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial regression between the infectious disease emergence data and 14 urban characteristics, we analyzed 225 spatial units in South Korea, where there was a re-emergence of measles and a 2015 outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. As results of exploratory spatial data analysis, the emerging infectious diseases had spatial dependence and showed spatial clusters. Spatial regression models showed that urban characteristic factors had different effects according to the type of infectious disease. Common factors were characteristics related to low socioeconomic status in water or food-borne diseases and manageable infectious diseases. Intermittent infections disease epidemics are related to high-quality residential environments and the response capacity of the local government. New infectious diseases are different than other infectious diseases, which are related to the ecological environment. This study suggests spatial policies for preventing infectious diseases considering the spatial relationships between urban characteristics and infectious diseases as well as the management of public health.