Infestation risk of the intermediate snail host of Schistosoma japonicum in the Yangtze River Basin: improved results by spatial reassessment and a random forest approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oncomelania hupensis is only intermediate snail host of Schistosoma japonicum, and distribution of O. hupensis is an important indicator for the surveillance of schistosomiasis. This study explored the feasibility of a random forest algorithm weighted by spatial distance for risk prediction of schistosomiasis distribution in the Yangtze River Basin in China, with the aim to produce an improved precision reference for the national schistosomiasis control programme by reducing the number of snail survey sites without losing predictive accuracy.

Methods

The snail presence and absence records were collected from Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces in 2018. A machine learning of random forest algorithm based on a set of environmental and climatic variabl

SUBMITTER: Zheng JX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8135174 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature