Spatial autocorrelation and epidemiological survey of visceral leishmaniasis in an endemic area of Azerbaijan region, the northwest of Iran.

Davoud Adham,Abbasali Dorosti,Eslam Moradi-Asl,Simin Khaiatzadeh,Albert Schriefer

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0236414

Davoud Adham, Abbasali Dorosti + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236414

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Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a common infectious disease that is endemic in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the spatial autocorrelation of VL in the northwest of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, the data of all patients were collected in 2009-2017 and analyzed by SPSS23 and Moran's and General G Index. The MaxEnt3.3.3 software was used to determine the ecological niche. A big hot spot area was identified in five counties in the northwest of Iran. More than 70% of the cases were reported from these regions, and the incidence rate increased in the northwest of Iran from 2013 to 2017. Seasonal rainfall and average daily temperature were the most important climate variables affecting the incidence of VL in this region (p < 0.05). Therefore, it can be concluded that VL in the northwest of Iran is expanding to new areas along the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the northeastern section of this region is a high-risk area.

Highlights

Arthropod-borne diseases are one of the most important health problems in the world
In terms of clinical symptoms, leishmaniasis is classified into the following varieties: cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) [6, 7]
VL was distributed in 22 counties from all three provinces so that more than three cases were reported in 15 counties, most of them located in the western parts of Azerbaijan

Summary

Introduction

Arthropod-borne diseases are one of the most important health problems in the world. More than one-third of infections are caused by communicable diseases by vectors. Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease transferred by more than 20 types of Leishmania parasites belonging to the Kinetoplastida class and the family Trypanosomatidae [1, 2]. Leishmaniasis has been reported in more than 101 countries [3], and over 350 million people face the grave risk of the disease [4]. The most important vectors of the leishmaniasis in the old world are sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia in the new world [5]. It is estimated to have caused 0.2–0.4 million cases worldwide resulting in over 40,000 deaths annually [9, 10]

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