Laboratório de Pesquisas Integrativas em Biodiversidade, São Cristóvão, Brazil.
Laboratório de Pesquisas Integrativas em Biodiversidade, São Cristóvão, Brazil.
Toxicon. 2024 Nov 6;250:108107. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2024.108107. Epub 2024 Sep 28.
Snakebite envenoming poses a significant public health challenge on a global basis, affecting millions of people annually and leading to complications that may result in fatalities. Brazil stands as one of the countries most impacted by snakebite envenoming, with snakes of the Bothrops genus being responsible for most bites. The current study aimed to identify the determinants of Bothrops snakebite incidence across different regions of Brazil. An ecological study was conducted using municipality-aggregated data, with snakebite incidence as the dependent variable. The study period comprised the years 2015-2021. We constructed Species Distribution Models (SDMs) for Bothrops species, and information was collected on precipitation, runoff, maximum and minimum temperatures, native forest, historical forest loss, agriculture, and pasture in each Brazilian municipality. These data were employed to assess the association between snakebite incidence and biotic, climatic, and landscape factors. The data were analyzed using Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression. The SDMs demonstrated good performance. The average annual snakebite incidence during the study period ranged from zero to 428.89 per 100,000 inhabitants, depending on the municipality. Higher incidence rates were concentrated primarily in municipalities in the northern region of the country. In this study, we found that nationwide, areas with extensive native forests and those that have historically experienced significant loss of forest cover exhibited higher snakebite incidence rates. Additionally, areas with higher temperatures and precipitation levels, as well as greater climatic suitability for the species B. jararaca, showed significantly higher snakebite incidence rates in the South and Southeast of Brazil, respectively. These associations may be linked to increased snake abundance and active behavior, as well as to engagement in activities favoring human-snake contact in these areas. The findings of this study can contribute to the improvement of prevention and control strategies for this public health issue in Brazil.
全球范围内，蛇伤中毒对公共健康构成重大挑战，每年影响数百万人，并导致可能致命的并发症。巴西是受蛇伤中毒影响最严重的国家之一，主要由矛头蝮属（Bothrops）的蛇类引发咬伤。本研究旨在确定巴西不同地区的矛头蝮蛇咬伤发生率的决定因素。本研究采用市县级汇总数据进行生态研究，以蛇伤发生率为因变量。研究期间包括 2015 年至 2021 年。我们构建了矛头蝮属物种的物种分布模型（SDMs），并收集了每个巴西市县级的降水、径流量、最高和最低温度、原生林、历史森林损失、农业和牧场信息。这些数据用于评估蛇伤发生率与生物、气候和景观因素之间的关联。使用广义最小二乘法（GLS）回归分析数据。SDMs 表现良好。研究期间，平均每年的蛇伤发生率在 0 至 428.89 人/10 万之间，具体取决于市县级。较高的发生率主要集中在该国北部地区的市县级。在本研究中，我们发现，在全国范围内，原生林广泛的地区和历史上森林覆盖损失较大的地区，蛇伤发生率较高。此外，温度和降水水平较高的地区以及对 B. jararaca 物种更适宜的地区，在巴西南部和东南部的蛇伤发生率分别显著较高。这些关联可能与这些地区蛇类数量增加和活跃行为增加以及有利于人与蛇接触的活动增加有关。本研究的结果可以为改善巴西这一公共卫生问题的预防和控制策略做出贡献。
