Analysis of the Arbovirosis Potential Occurrence in Dobrogea, Romania

Abstract

Climate change creates new challenges for preventing and protecting human health against different diseases that could appear and propagate. The Aedes albopictus mosquito species is an important vector for different diseases like dengue fever or zika. Although this species is not “indigenous” in Europe, its presence is noticed in many countries on the continent. The Ae. albopictus establishment is conditioned by the species’ characteristics and environmental factors. To assess the possible spread of Ae. albopictus in the Dobrogea region (situated in the Southeast of Romania), we conducted the following analysis: (1) Investigation of the current distribution and climatic factors favoring Ae. albopictus’ establishment in Europe; (2) Analysis of climate dynamics in Dobrogea in terms of the parameters identified at stage (1); (3) Testing the hypothesis that the climate from Dobrogea favors Ae. albopictus’ establishment in the region; (4) Building a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model of the potential geographic distribution of Ae. albopictus in Dobrogea. Results show that the climate of Dobrogea favors the apparition of the investigated species and its proliferation.

Environmental Variables Related to Aedes aegypti Breeding Spots and the Occurrence of Arbovirus Diseases

“…In the context of climate change, due to the persistence of the planet's warming, which results mainly from human activity, the health sector has an enormous challenge to face, as alerted by the International Panel about Climate Changes (IPCC). Climate changes can influence the dissemination of vectors, causing migration to different regions, which would consequently increase the incidence of diseases by amplifying their geographical distribution [40,117].…”

“…In the literature, works pertaining to the environmental variables in association with the arbovirus diseases dengue fever, Zika and/or chikungunya are related mainly to diverse urban environment scenarios [34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. However, the discussion about the topic is growing, inferring that the same variables, or similar ones, favor the spreading of these diseases in rural environments as well due to the vector's presence, be it allied to environmental, basic sanitation and/or socio-demographic issues [41][42][43], among other factors.…”

Identifying and predicting climate change impact on vector-borne disease using machine learning: Case study of Plasmodium falciparum from Africa

“…Therefore, when it comes to vector-borne disease epidemiology, temporal variation along with its spatial distribution is most concentrated aspect in infectious disease transmission. As evident from various studies on vector-borne diseases, the association of environmental variables were explored, and this topic is gaining recognition in spread of diseases in rural and diverse urban environments (Abd Majid et al, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020;Cordeiro et al, 2011;Khalid & Ghaffar, 2015;Maftei et al, 2021;Rose et al, 2020;Tunali et al, 2021). The knowledge about the variables which can influence the spreading of the mosquito throughout the world is of utmost importance, as it can be used in the proposition of preventive models (Sriklin et al, 2021).…”