title: Spatial modelling and ecology of Echinococcus multilocularis transmission in China.
abstract: Recent research in central China has suggested that the most likely transmission mechanism for Echinococcus multilocularis to humans is via domestic dogs which are allowed to roam freely and hunt (infected) small mammals within areas close to villages or in areas of tented pasture. This assertion has led to the hypothesis that there is a landscape control on transmission risk since the proximity of suitable habitat for susceptible small mammals appears to be the key. We have tested this hypothesis in a number of endemic areas in China, notably south Gansu Province and the Tibetan region of western Sichuan Province. The fundamental landscape control is its effect at a regional scale on small mammal species assemblages (susceptible species are not ubiquitous) and, at a local scale, the spatial distributions of small mammal populations. To date the research has examined relationships between landscape composition and patterns of human infection, landscape and small mammal distributions and recently the relationships between landscape and dog infection rates. The key tool to characterize landscape is satellite remote sensing and these data are used as inputs to drive spatial models of transmission risk. This paper reviews the progress that has been made so far in spatial modeling of the ecology of E. multilocularis with particular reference to China, outlines current research issues, and describes a framework for building a spatial-temporal model of transmission ecology.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Systems Research and Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK. f.m.danson@salford.ac.uk
authors.forename: F Mark
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Danson
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giraudoux
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D004444:Echinococcosis, Hepatic / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D048210:Echinococcus multilocularis / Q000502:physiology*; D004463:Ecology; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015995:Prevalence; D017215:Satellite Communications