Macroecological patterns of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis transmission across the health areas of Panama (1980-2012).

ABSTRACT: American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) is a neglected vector-borne zoonosis that persists despite increasing socio-economic development and urbanization in Panamá. Here, we investigate the association between environmental changes and spatio-temporal ACL transmission in the Republic of Panamá (1980-2012). We employ a macroecological approach, where patterns of variation in ACL incidence at the spatially coarse-grained scale of health areas are studied considering factors linked to the ecology of ACL transmission. We specifically study impacts of climatic variability, measured by the different phases of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), within diverse ecosystems and sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) vector species, as well as heterogeneous local climatic patterns, deforestation, population

SUBMITTER: Yamada K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5991822 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature