Hoffman-Hall Amanda, Puett Robin, Silva Julie A, Chen Dong, Bredder Allison, Shevade Varada, Han Zay Yar, Han Kay Thwe, Aung Poe Poe, Plowe Christopher V, Nyunt Myaing M, Loboda Tatiana V
Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline, St. Petersburg, USA.
University of Maryland, School of Public Health, College Park, USA.
IJID Reg. 2023 Jul 6;8:75-83. doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2023.06.006. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Within the remote region of Ann Township in Myanmar's Rakhine State, malaria prevalence has remained steady at ∼10% of the population from 2016-2019. Previous studies have linked areas of higher malaria prevalence in the region to heavily forested areas, however, little is known about how people live, work, and move through these areas. This work aims to disentangle landscape from land use in regard to malaria exposure.
We investigated the roles of forest cover, forest loss, and land use activities with malaria prevalence through the combined use of land use surveys, malaria surveillance, and satellite earth observations.
Our results confirm previous research that linked areas of high forest cover with high malaria prevalence. However, areas experiencing high levels of deforestation were not associated with malaria prevalence. The land use factors that contribute most significantly to increased malaria risk remained those which put people in direct contact with forests, including conducting forest chores, having an outdoor job, and having a primary occupation in the logging and/or plantation industry.
Malaria prevention methods in Myanmar should focus on anyone who lives near forests or engages in land use activities that bring them within proximity of forested landscapes, whether through occupation or chores.
在缅甸若开邦安镇的偏远地区，2016年至2019年期间疟疾患病率一直稳定在约10%的人口。此前的研究将该地区疟疾患病率较高的地区与森林茂密的地区联系起来，然而，对于人们如何在这些地区生活、工作和活动却知之甚少。这项工作旨在从疟疾暴露的角度区分景观和土地利用。
我们通过综合使用土地利用调查、疟疾监测和卫星地球观测，研究了森林覆盖、森林砍伐和土地利用活动与疟疾患病率之间的关系。
我们的结果证实了之前将高森林覆盖率地区与高疟疾患病率联系起来的研究。然而，森林砍伐率高的地区与疟疾患病率无关。对疟疾风险增加贡献最大的土地利用因素仍然是那些使人们直接接触森林的因素，包括从事森林杂务、从事户外工作以及主要从事伐木和/或种植园行业。
缅甸的疟疾预防方法应侧重于任何居住在森林附近或从事使其接近森林景观的土地利用活动的人，无论是通过职业还是杂务。
