Species distribution modeling for disease ecology: A multi-scale case study for schistosomiasis host snails in Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly popular tools for profiling disease risk in ecology, particularly for infectious diseases of public health importance that include an obligate non-human host in their transmission cycle. SDMs can create high-resolution maps of host distribution across geographical scales, reflecting baseline risk of disease. However, as SDM computational methods have rapidly expanded, there are many outstanding methodological questions. Here we address key questions about SDM application, using schistosomiasis risk in Brazil as a case study. Schistosomiasis is transmitted to humans through contact with the free-living infectious stage of Schistosoma spp. parasites released from freshwater snails, the parasite's obligate intermediate hosts. In this study,

SUBMITTER: Singleton AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11296653 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature