The Estrada Real project and endemic diseases: the case of schistosomiasis, geoprocessing and tourism

Abstract

Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool that has recently been applied to better

Malacological survey of Biomphalaria snails in municipalities along the Estrada Real in the southeast of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…The presence of Biomphalaria species was previously reported in the municipalities of Piau, Rio Novo and Juiz de Fora 15,18,31 , although considering their geographical location, only Juiz de Fora has been surveyed 18 . Models to estimate the prevalence of schistosomiasis have been perfomed in the State of Minas Gerais 14,[32][33][34] and in some Estrada Real municipalities 16 , but in both studies, due to lack of georeferenced information for Biomphalaria, only data concerning the prevalence of human schistosomiasis and Biomphalaria species in relation to the municipality were used. In this study, all the sites where the occurrence of Biomphalaria was verified were mapped using GPS.…”

“…In the historical context of the economic development of State of Minas Gerais, the term Estrada Real refers to the routes taken by settlers from the time of the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais to the period of its exhaustion 16,17 . The Estrada Real was created by the Portuguese Crown in the 17 th century with the intention of controlling the flow of wealth, in the form of gold and diamonds and goods, which passed between the State of Minas Gerais and the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the colony at the that time 17 .…”

A Study of Schistosomiasis Prevalence and Risk of Snail Presence Spatial Distributions Using Geo-Statistical Tools

“…Data generated by the GIS have an important role in the study of schistosomiasis, especially in relation to the interaction of disease with environmental conditions . The use of GIS for the study of schistosomiasis in Brazil was also done in several states: Bahia (Bavia et al, 1999(Bavia et al, , 2001); Minas Gerais (Brooker et al, 2006;Fonseca et al, 2007a;Fonseca, 2009;Freitas et al, 2006;Gazzinelli et al, 2006;Guimarães et al, 2006Guimarães et al, , 2008Guimarães et al, , 2009Guimarães et al, , 2010aGuimarães et al, , 2010bGuimarães, 2010;Martins, 2008;Martins-Bedê et al, 2009Carvalho et al, 2010;Tibiriça et al, 2011); Pernambuco (Barbosa et al, 2004;Araújo et al, 2007;Galvão et al, 2010). This work has two main objectives: the first is to estimate the probability of occurrence of each mollusc species (B. glabrata, B. tenagophila, B. straminea) in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to determine which of these species is more related to the prevalence of the disease; the second is to estimate the prevalence of schistosomiasis for the entire state of Minas Gerais, using the estimated probability of snail existence, besides socio-economic and environmental variables.…”

The role of population movement in the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis in Brazil: a preliminary typology of population movement

“…Common exposure risk activities include recreational fishing, bathing and swimming (Barbosa et al 2004). Carvalho et al (2008) studied tourism as a risk factor in RJ, SP and MG; they examined 178 towns included in the Estrada Real Tourism Project. Seasonal wage labour by rural people in towns may also carry considerable risk of introducing S. mansoni into ecologically vulnerable urban neighbourhoods.…”