Climate change and risk of leishmaniasis in north america: predictions from ecological niche models of vector and reservoir species.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Climate change is increasingly being implicated in species' range shifts throughout the world, including those of important vector and reservoir species for infectious diseases. In North America (México, United States, and Canada), leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease that is autochthonous in México and Texas and has begun to expand its range northward. Further expansion to the north may be facilitated by climate change as more habitat becomes suitable for vector and reservoir species for leishmaniasis.

Methods and findings

The analysis began with the construction of ecological niche models using a maximum entropy algorithm for the distribution of two sand fly vector species (Lutzomyia anthophora and L. diabolica), three confirmed rodent reservoir species (Neot

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2799657 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature