Mapping the ecoepidemiology of Zika virus infection in urban and rural areas of Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia, 2015-2016: Implications for public health and travel medicine

Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales, Pablo Ruiz, Javier Tabares, Carlos Augusto Ossa, Maria Camila Yepes-Echeverry, Valeria Ramirez-Jaramillo, Maria Leonor Galindo-Marquez, Carlos Julian García-Loaiza, Juan Alejandro Sabogal-Roman, Esteban Parra-Valencia, Guillermo J. Lagos-Grisales, Carlos O. Lozada-Riascos, Cornelis A. de Pijper, Martin P. Grobusch

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22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Geographical information systems (GIS) have been demonstrated earlier to be of great use to inform public health action against vector-borne infectious diseases. Using surveillance data on the ongoing ZIKV outbreak from Pereira, Colombia (2015-2016), we estimated incidence rates (cases/100,000 population), and developed maps correlating with the ecoepidemiology of the area. Up to October 8, 2016, 439 cases of ZIKV were reported in Pereira (93 cases/100,000 pop.), with highest rates in the South-West area. At the corregiments (sub-municipalities) of Pereira, Caimalito presented the highest rate. An urban area, Cuba, has 169 cases/100,000 pop., with a low economical level and the highest Aedic index (9.1%). Entomological indexes were associated with ZIKV incidence at simple and multiple non-linear regressions (r(2) > 0.25; p < 0.05). Combining entomological, environmental, human population density, travel patterns and case data of vector-borne infections, such as ZIKV, leads to a valuable tool that can be used to pinpoint hotspots also for infections such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria. Such a tool is key to planning mosquito control and the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases in local populations. Such data also enable microepidemiology and the prediction of risk for travelers who visit specific areas in a destination country
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57-66
JournalTravel medicine and infectious disease
Volume18
Early online date2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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