Botto C, Escalona E, Vivas-Martinez S, Behm V, Delgado L, Coronel P
Instituto de Medicina Tropical/Universidad Central de Venezuela/Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas, Venezuela.
Parassitologia. 2005 Mar;47(1):145-50.
Onchocerciasis is a chronic filarial infection transmitted by Simulium flies that has a focal geographical distribution in Latin America. The southern Venezuelan focus has a gradient of endemicity that includes the largest number of hyperendemic communities in the continent, many of them in remote forest and mountainous areas, where it is an important public health problem among the Yanomami indigenous population. The recent introduction of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tools and a landscape epidemiology approach for study of vector borne diseases is helping to understand relationships between environment and transmission dynamics of onchocerciasis. Striking differences in the transmission dynamics of onchocerciasis between different river courses were detected. A significant relationship between onchocerciasis and temperature was also demonstrated. The geologic substrate, kind of landscape and vegetation seemed also to influence the transmission of onchocerciasis. In the Venezuelan Amazon, different kinds of landscapes associated with distinctive vector species, show different intensities of transmission of onchocerciasis. In this sense, landscape analysis aided by GIS, may prove to be a useful tool for better identification of the spatial distribution of onchocerciasis risk in the Orinoco basin.
盘尾丝虫病是一种由蚋传播的慢性丝虫感染病，在拉丁美洲呈局灶性地理分布。委内瑞拉南部疫源地存在地方性流行梯度，其中包括该大陆数量最多的高度流行社区，许多社区位于偏远的森林和山区，在那里，盘尾丝虫病是雅诺马马原住民群体中的一个重要公共卫生问题。最近引入的地理信息系统（GIS）工具和一种用于研究病媒传播疾病的景观流行病学方法，有助于了解环境与盘尾丝虫病传播动态之间的关系。已检测到不同河道之间盘尾丝虫病传播动态存在显著差异。还证实了盘尾丝虫病与温度之间存在显著关系。地质基质、景观类型和植被似乎也会影响盘尾丝虫病的传播。在委内瑞拉亚马逊地区，与不同病媒种类相关的不同景观类型，显示出盘尾丝虫病的不同传播强度。从这个意义上说，借助GIS进行的景观分析可能是更好地识别奥里诺科河流域盘尾丝虫病风险空间分布的有用工具。
