In GIS-enabled public health surveillance, spatial analysis primarily helps to:

• A. Identify disease clusters by geography and plan interventions.
• B. Predict economic trends.
• C. Store patient records only.
• D. Replace clinical diagnosis.

Answer: (A)

Spatial analysis in GIS-enabled public health surveillance focuses on mapping where disease cases occur and testing whether cases are more clustered in particular locations than would be expected by chance. This helps identify geographic clusters, track how an outbreak spreads over space, and relate patterns to environmental or social factors. With that information, health officials can target interventions, allocate resources to high-risk areas, and monitor the impact of control measures. The other ideas aren’t the primary aim: predicting economic trends, storing patient records as a sole purpose, or replacing clinical diagnosis don’t reflect how spatial analysis is used to guide public health actions.