title: Biotic factors and occurrence of Lutzomyia longipalpis in endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
abstract: The relationships between environmental exposure to risk agents and health conditions have been studied with the aid of remote sensing imagery, a tool particularly useful in the study of vegetation cover. This study aims to evaluate the influence of environmental variables on the spatial distribution of the abundance of Lutzomyia longipalpis and the reported canine and human visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases at an urban area of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The sandfly captures were performed in 13 residences that were selected by raffle considering four residences or collection station for buffer. These buffers were generated from the central house with about 50, 100 and 200 m from it in an endemic area of VL. The abundance of sandflies and human and canine cases were georreferenced using the GIS software PCI Geomatica. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and percentage of land covered by vegetation were the environmental variables extracted from a remote sensing IKONOS-2 image. The average NDVI was considered as the complexity of habitat and the standard deviation as the heterogeneity of habitat. One thousand three hundred sixty-seven specimens were collected during the catch. We found a significant positive linear correlation between the abundance of sandflies and the percentage of vegetation cover and average NDVI. However, there was no significant association between habitat heterogeneity and the abundance of these flies.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina Dr Hélio Mandetta, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. evertonfalcaodeoliveira@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Everton Falcão de
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Elaine Araújo e
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Carlos Eurico dos Santos
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Antonio Conceição
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Paranhos Filho
authors.forename: Roberto Macedo
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gamarra
authors.forename: Alisson André
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Reginaldo Peçanha
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Brazil
authors.forename: Alessandra Gutierrez de
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D017753:Ecosystem; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D014505:Urban Population