Association between the potential distribution of Lutzomyia longipalpis and Nyssomyia whitmani and leishmaniasis incidence in Piauí State, Brazil.

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Raimundo Leoberto Torres de Sousa, Thais de Araujo-Pereira, Anangela Ravena da Silva Leal, Simone Mousinho Freire, Cleanto Luiz Maia Silva, Jacenir Reis Dos Santos Mallet, Mauricio Luiz Vilela, Silvia Alcântara Vasconcelos, Régis Gomes, Clarissa Teixeira, Constança Britto, Daniela de Pita Pereira, Bruno Moreira de Carvalho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011388; https://doaj.org/article/0709af8afc744569918dc18637d60270

Background Leishmaniases are vector borne diseases caused by Leishmania spp. parasites transmitted by female sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) whose geographic distribution is influenced by environmental factors. Among the main tools for studying the distribution of vector species, modeling techniques are used to analyze the influence of climatic and environmental factors on the distribution of these insects and their association with human cases of the disease. Methodology/principal findings Here, we used a multiscale ecological niche modeling approach to assess the environmental suitability of sandfly vectors of the etiological agents of Visceral (VL) and American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) in Piauí state, northeastern Brazil, and then evaluated their relationship with human disease incidence. For this, we obtained the geographic coordinates of the vector species Lutzomyia longipalpis and Nyssomyia whitmani through literature review, online databases and unpublished records. These data were used for the development of predictive models of the distribution of both sandflies species based on climatic and environmental variables. Finally, the environmental suitability for the presence of these vectors was compared with the incidence of both the diseases at the municipality level. The final models for each sandfly species showed good predictive powers with performance metric values of 0.889 for Lu. longipalpis and 0.776 for Ny. whitmani. The areas with greater environmental suitability for the presence of these species were concentrated in the central-north region of Piauí and coincide with the location of those municipalities presenting higher incidences of VL and ACL, situated in the central-north and extreme north of the state, respectively. The south and southeast regions of Piauí state have low incidence of these diseases and presented low environmental suitability for the presence of both vectors. Conclusions/significance We discuss how predictive modeling can guide entomological and epidemiological ...