Sousa Arturo, García-Barrón Leoncio, Vetter Mark, Morales Julia
Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Seville, E-41012 Seville, Spain.
Department of Applied Physics II, University of Seville, E-41012 Seville, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Aug 6;11(8):7896-917. doi: 10.3390/ijerph110807896.
The possible connectivity between the spatial distribution of water bodies suitable for vectors of malaria and endemic malaria foci in Southern Europe is still not well known. Spain was one of the last countries in Western Europe to be declared free of malaria by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1964. This study combines, by means of a spatial-temporal analysis, the historical data of patients and deceased with the distribution of water bodies where the disease-transmitting mosquitos proliferate. Therefore, data from historical archives with a Geographic Information System (GIS), using the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation method, was analyzed with the aim of identifying regional differences in the distribution of malaria in Spain. The reasons, why the risk of transmission is concentrated in specific regions, are related to worse socioeconomic conditions (Extremadura), the presence of another vector (Anopheles labranchiae) besides A. atroparvus (Levante) or large areas of water bodies in conditions to reproduce theses vectors (La Mancha and Western Andalusia). In the particular case of Western Andalusia, in 1913, the relatively high percentage of 4.73% of the surface, equal to 202362 ha, corresponds to wetlands and other unhealthy water bodies. These wetlands have been reduced as a result of desiccation policies and climate change such as the Little Ice Age and Global Climate Change. The comprehension of the main factors of these wetland changes in the past can help us interpret accurately the future risk of malaria re-emergence in temperate latitudes, since it reveals the crucial role of unhealthy water bodies on the distribution, endemicity and eradication of malaria in southern Europe.
适合疟疾传播媒介生存的水体空间分布与南欧疟疾流行区之间可能存在的联系仍不太清楚。西班牙是1964年被世界卫生组织（WHO）宣布消除疟疾的西欧最后一批国家之一。本研究通过时空分析，将患者和死亡者的历史数据与疾病传播蚊子繁殖的水体分布相结合。因此，利用地理信息系统（GIS）和反距离加权（IDW）插值法对历史档案数据进行分析，旨在确定西班牙疟疾分布的区域差异。传播风险集中在特定区域的原因与社会经济状况较差（埃斯特雷马杜拉）、除了阿托帕蚊（莱万特地区）之外还存在另一种传播媒介（拉氏按蚊）或存在适合这些传播媒介繁殖的大面积水体（拉曼查和安达卢西亚西部）有关。在安达卢西亚西部的特殊情况下，1913年，占地表面积4.73%（相当于202362公顷）的相对较高比例对应于湿地和其他不卫生水体。由于诸如小冰期和全球气候变化等干涸政策和气候变化，这些湿地面积已经减少。了解过去这些湿地变化的主要因素有助于我们准确解读温带地区未来疟疾再次出现的风险，因为这揭示了不卫生水体在南欧疟疾分布、流行和根除方面的关键作用。
