Buruli ulcer disease prevalence in Benin, West Africa: associations with land use/cover and the identification of disease clusters.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Buruli ulcer (BU) disease, caused by infection with the environmental mycobacterium M. ulcerans, is an emerging infectious disease in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. Although vectors and modes of transmission remain unknown, it is hypothesized that the transmission of BU disease is associated with human activities in or around aquatic environments, and that characteristics of the landscape (e.g., land use/cover) play a role in mediating BU disease. Several studies performed at relatively small spatial scales (e.g., within a single village or region of a country) support these hypotheses; however, if BU disease is associated with land use/cover characteristics, either through spatial constraints on vector-host dynamics or by mediating human activities, then larg

SUBMITTER: Wagner T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2423183 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature