Geographical Detector-based influence factors analysis for Echinococcosis prevalence in Tibet, China

Abstract

Echinococcosis, caused by genus Echinococcus, is the most pathogenic zoonotic parasitic disease in the world. In Tibet of the People’s Republic of China, echinococcosis refers principally to two types of severe zoonosis, cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), which place a serious burden on public health and economy in the local community. However, research on the spatial epidemiology of echinococcosis remains inadequate in Tibet, China. Based on the recorded human echinococcosis data, maps of the spatial distribution of human CE and AE prevalence in Tibet were produced at city level and county level respectively, which show that the prevalence of echinococcosis in northern and western Tibet was much higher than that in other regions. We employ a geographical detector to explore the influencing factors for causing CE and AE while sorting information on the maps of disease prevalence and environment factors (e.g. terrain, population, and yak population). The results of our analysis showed that biological factors have the most impact on the prevalence of echinococcosis, of which the yak population contributes the most for CE, while the dog population contributes the most for AE. In addition, the interaction between various factors, as we found out, might further explain the disease prevalence, which indicated that the echinococcosis prevalence is not simply affected by one single factor, but by multiple factors that are correlated with each other complicatedly. Our results will provide an important reference for the evaluation of the echinococcosis risk, control projects, and prevention programs in Tibet.

Epidemiological characteristics and risk factors for cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in China: an analysis of a national population-based field survey

“…livestock and small mammals) [ 29 , 30 ]. We also observed a positive correlation between elevation and echinococcosis prevalence, which is consistent with previous findings [ 23 , 31 , 32 ].…”

Specific urban units identified in tuberculosis epidemic using a geographical detector in Guangzhou, China

“…In comparison to the individual variables, their explanatory abilities were strongly enhanced by their pairwise interactions [ 45 , 46 ]. Rasam et al and Ge et al demonstrated that the interactions between public transportation condition, population density, and urban functional zones had much higher explanatory abilities for the TB epidemic’s spatial differentiations than each individual factor [ 16 , 17 ].…”

Multimodal Treatment of Cystic Echinococcosis

“…Echinococcosis or hydatid cyst is one of the 17 neglected tropical diseases according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). [1][2][3] This disease costs more than 3 billion US dollars annually, while the number of infected cases is increasing worldwide every year. 2,4 Cystic echinococcosis is classified as a zoonotic disease that is caused by the larval stage of cestode species belonging to the genus Echinococcus.…”

“…2,4 Cystic echinococcosis is classified as a zoonotic disease that is caused by the larval stage of cestode species belonging to the genus Echinococcus. [1][2][3] There are six species of Echinococcus have been found recently, but only four species can cause serious diseases in humans. All four species are Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus), Echinococcus multilocularis (E. multilocularis), Echinococcus vogeli (E. vogeli), and Echinococcus oligarthrus (E. oligarthrus).…”

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global burden of controlling the disease exceeds three billion US dollars annually. 1 Because of that, it's very important to understand the therapy algorithm for cystic echinococcosis to prevent the complication and mortality of the patient.…”