scholarly journals Redefining snakebite envenoming as a zoonosis: disease incidence is driven by snake ecology, socioeconomics and anthropogenic impacts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Martin ◽  
Joseph Erinjery ◽  
Dileepa Ediriweera ◽  
H. Janaka de Silva ◽  
David G. Lalloo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Infectious Disease Transmission ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Zoonotic Infections ◽  
Contact Rates ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Transmission Models

Snakebite is the only WHO-listed, not infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD), although its eco-epidemiology is similar to that of zoonotic infections: envenoming occurs after a vertebrate host contacts a human. Accordingly, snakebite risk represents the interaction between snake and human factors, but their quantification has been limited by data availability. Models of infectious disease transmission are instrumental for the mitigation of NTDs and zoonoses. Here, we represented snake-human interactions with disease transmission models to approximate geospatial estimates of snakebite incidence in Sri Lanka, a global hotspot. Snakebites and envenomings are described by the product of snake and human abundance, mirroring directly transmitted zoonoses. We found that human-snake contact rates vary according to land cover (surrogate of occupation and socioeconomic status), the impacts of humans and climate on snake abundance, and by snake species. Our findings show that redefining snakebite as zoonosis provides a mechanistic eco-epidemiological basis to understand snakebites, and the possible implications of global environmental and demographic change for the burden of snakebite.

scholarly journals Adaptive data-driven age and patch mixing in contact networks with recurrent mobility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Knight ◽  
Huiting Ma ◽  
Amir Ghasemi ◽  
Mackenzie Hamilton ◽  
Kevin Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Infectious Disease Transmission ◽  
Mobility Data ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Mixing Patterns ◽  
Transmission Models

AbstractInfectious disease transmission models often stratify populations by age and geographic patches. Contact patterns between age groups and patches are key parameters in such models. Arenas et al. (2020) develop an approach to simulate contact patterns associated with recurrent mobility between patches, such as due to work, school, and other regular travel. Using their approach, mixing between patches is greater than mobility data alone would suggest, because individuals from patches A and B can form a contact if they meet in patch C. We build upon their approach to address three potential gaps that remain. First, our approach includes a distribution of contacts by age that is responsive to underlying age distribution of the mixing pool. Second, different age distributions by contact type are also maintained in our approach, such that changes to the numbers of different types of contacts are appropriately reflected in changes to the overall age mixing patterns. Finally, we introduce and distinguish between two mixing pools associated with each patch, with possible implications for the overall connectivity of the population: the home pool, in which contacts can only be formed with other individuals residing in the same patch; and the travel pool, in which contacts can be formed with some residents of, and any other visitors to the patch. We describe in detail the steps required to implement our approach, and present results of an example application.Graphical Abstract

scholarly journals Dose-response relationships for environmentally mediated infectious disease transmission models

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. e1005481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew F. Brouwer ◽  
Mark H. Weir ◽  
Marisa C. Eisenberg ◽  
Rafael Meza ◽  
Joseph N. S. Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Dose Response ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Infectious Disease Transmission ◽  
Transmission Models

scholarly journals Integrating geostatistical maps and infectious disease transmission models using adaptive multiple importance sampling

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Retkute ◽  
Panayiota Touloupou ◽  
María-Gloria Basáñez ◽  
T. Déirdre Hollingsworth ◽  
Simon E. F. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Importance Sampling ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Infectious Disease Transmission ◽  
Multiple Importance Sampling ◽  
Transmission Models

Travel Connectivity and Infectious Disease Transmission Risks in Oceania

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Maria Cadavid Restrepo ◽  
Luis Furuya-Kanamori ◽  
Helen Mayfield ◽  
Eric J. Nilles ◽  
Colleen L. Lau
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Infectious Disease Transmission

scholarly journals Understanding mosquito host-choice behaviour: a new and low-cost method of identifying the sex of human hosts from mosquito blood meals

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Teltscher ◽  
Sophie Bouvaine ◽  
Gabriella Gibson ◽  
Paul Dyer ◽  
Jennifer Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Host Choice ◽  
Epidemiological Models ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Transmission Models ◽  
Blood Meals

Abstract Background Mosquito-borne diseases are a global health problem, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths per year. Pathogens are transmitted by mosquitoes feeding on the blood of an infected host and then feeding on a new host. Monitoring mosquito host-choice behaviour can help in many aspects of vector-borne disease control. Currently, it is possible to determine the host species and an individual human host from the blood meal of a mosquito by using genotyping to match the blood profile of local inhabitants. Epidemiological models generally assume that mosquito biting behaviour is random; however, numerous studies have shown that certain characteristics, e.g. genetic makeup and skin microbiota, make some individuals more attractive to mosquitoes than others. Analysing blood meals and illuminating host-choice behaviour will help re-evaluate and optimise disease transmission models. Methods We describe a new blood meal assay that identifies the sex of the person that a mosquito has bitten. The amelogenin locus (AMEL), a sex marker located on both X and Y chromosomes, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction in DNA extracted from blood-fed Aedes aegypti and Anopheles coluzzii. Results AMEL could be successfully amplified up to 24 h after a blood meal in 100% of An. coluzzii and 96.6% of Ae. aegypti, revealing the sex of humans that were fed on by individual mosquitoes. Conclusions The method described here, developed using mosquitoes fed on volunteers, can be applied to field-caught mosquitoes to determine the host species and the biological sex of human hosts on which they have blood fed. Two important vector species were tested successfully in our laboratory experiments, demonstrating the potential of this technique to improve epidemiological models of vector-borne diseases. This viable and low-cost approach has the capacity to improve our understanding of vector-borne disease transmission, specifically gender differences in exposure and attractiveness to mosquitoes. The data gathered from field studies using our method can be used to shape new transmission models and aid in the implementation of more effective and targeted vector control strategies by enabling a better understanding of the drivers of vector-host interactions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document