Potential of GIS in public health issues: environment and tick-borne diseases
(2015) 6th Belgian Geography Days — Location: Bruxelles (13.November.2015)
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- Abstract
- Tick-borne diseases (TBD) are a public health issue worldwide. Understanding the spatial variation in TBD risk is essential for disease management and prevention. For TBD to circulate in a geographic area, five components of the system must overlap spatially and interact: the pathogen, a natural reservoir, a natural or accidental host, a vector, and a suitable biotope for vector development. Diverse factors determine the spatial distribution of those components: while tick distribution and activity are clearly influenced by ecological factors such as temperature and humidity, the exposure of humans may be more influenced by socio-cultural factors. As the risk of tick bite is notably shaped by environmental factors, the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the study of TBD is recommended. We use a diverse set of data sources and analysis methods to investigate how environmental factors, including those impacting human exposure, affect the spatial distribution of the risk of TBD. The incidence of tick bites is a major aspect of the risk of tick borne diseases, which finds itself at the crux of environments favorable to ticks and to humans. Understanding the spatial determinants of the risk of human-tick contacts is of public health interest because Ixodes ricinus, widely distributed in Belgium, is capable of transmitting several pathogens to humans and livestock, including Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB). Using data from a survey of the Firstly, a survey was conducted in the summer of 2009 on the incidence of tick bites in scout camps taking place in 2009 in southern Belgium, we show that landscape composition and configuration, in relation to camp sites, impact the incidence of tick bites. While the significant variables were in line with the current literature, effects related to human exposure, such as access to the forests, were highlighted. Joint effects of landscape composition and configuration, weather, climate, forest and wildlife management were examined using multiple gamma regression with a log link. The landscape was characterized in various sizes of buffers around camps using a detailed land use map, climate and weather variables. The seroprevalence of infection with B. burgdorferi in a group professionally at risk, veterinarians and farmers allows assessing the effect of environmental factors such as landscape composition on the incidence of infection at a broader scale. Like scouts, forest workers, hunters, or people practicing outdoor recreational activities, farmers and veterinarians can be identified as groups of land users at high risk of infection by tick bites. The aim of this study was to assess which environmental conditions can favour the presence of B. burgdorferi infection. Serological results for the 148 veterinarians and famers who participated to the study were analysed taking into account the municipality where they live. Using binary logistic, joint effects of landscape composition and configuration, forest and wildlife management were examined. Same datasets as the first study was used. While the ecology of ticks and the landscape favouring their abundance have been extensively studied, the environmental conditions favouring an intense contact with susceptible humans, including groups at risk, are sparse. The focus so far in research has often been on the ecological aspects of tick and pathogen distribution, or, at the other extreme on purely epidemiological aspects such as individual risk factors. However, understanding the distribution of cases and of risk requires looking into human-environment interactions. A geographic, spatially explicit perspective on these issues, assessing not only land cover but also land use and management is therefore highly relevant.
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de Keukeleire, M. (2015). Potential of GIS in public health issues: environment and tick-borne diseases. 6th Belgian Geography Days, Bruxelles. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/227276