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Environmental parameters as risk factors for human and canine Leishmania infection in Thessaly, Central Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

ALEXIOS GIANNAKOPOULOS ,
CONSTANTINA N. TSOKANA ,
DANAI PERVANIDOU ,
ELIAS PAPADOPOULOS ,
KONSTANTINOS PAPASPYROPOULOS ,
VASSILIKI SPYROU ,
ANGELIKI RODI BURRIEL ,
ANNITA VAKALI ,
CHRISTOS HADJICHRISTODOULOU  and
CHARALAMBOS BILLINIS
ALEXIOS GIANNAKOPOULOS
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, 224 str. Trikalon, 43100, Karditsa, Greece
CONSTANTINA N. TSOKANA
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, 224 str. Trikalon, 43100, Karditsa, Greece
DANAI PERVANIDOU
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiological Surveillance and Intervention, Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece
ELIAS PAPADOPOULOS
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece
KONSTANTINOS PAPASPYROPOULOS
Affiliation:
Research Division, Hunting Federation of Macedonia and Thrace, Ethnikis Antistasis 173–175, 55134 Thessaloniki, Greece
VASSILIKI SPYROU
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Production, Technological Education Institute of Larissa, Larissa, 41335, Greece
ANGELIKI RODI BURRIEL
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, 224 str. Trikalon, 43100, Karditsa, Greece
ANNITA VAKALI
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiological Surveillance and Intervention, Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece
CHRISTOS HADJICHRISTODOULOU
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiological Surveillance and Intervention, Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 22 Papakyriazi str, 41222, Larissa, Greece
CHARALAMBOS BILLINIS*
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, 224 str. Trikalon, 43100, Karditsa, Greece
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, 224 str. Trikalon, 43100, Karditsa, Greece. E-mail: billinis@vet.uth.gr
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Summary

Thessaly, Central Greece, is an endemic area for leishmaniasis with higher incidence rate during the last years. We herein investigated the geographical distribution of human leishmaniasis cases and Leishmania infected dogs in relation to environmental parameters to identify high-risk areas. All the human leishmaniasis cases (n = 82) reported to Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2014 and 85 Leishmania polymerase chain reaction positive dogs were included in this study. To analyse the data geographical information system (GIS) together with the Ecological Niche Model (ENM) were used. The most important findings of the study were: (i) Central plain of Thessaly together with the coast line and the western and eastern lowlands were identified as high-risk geographical areas. (ii) The highest percentage of the high-risk areas was found in low altitude (<200 m above sea level) and in irrigated and cultivated agricultural areas. (iii) A total of 20% of the human settlements was found in high-risk areas. (iv) The maximum temperature of the warmest month contributes the highest per cent to define both environmental niche profiles for humans and dogs. (v) The ENM could be a useful tool for the epidemiological study of leishmaniasis. Spatial analysis may allow the design of entomological studies and identify target population in order to implement preventive measures.

Keywords

Leishmaniahuman leishmaniasis casesdogsGISGreece
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 143 , Issue 9 , August 2016 , pp. 1179 - 1186
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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