Spatiotemporal trends of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Costa Rica.

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) remains an important neglected tropical disease in Costa Rica, which has one of the largest burdens of this disease in Latin America. We identified district-level hotspots of CL from 2006 to 2017 and conducted temporal analysis to identify where hotspots were increasing across the country. Clear patterns of CL risk were detected, with persistent hotspots located in the Caribbean region, where risk was also found to be increasing over time in some areas. We identify spatiotemporal hotspots, which may be used in support of the leishmaniasis plan of action for the Americas.