Impact of Deforestation and Agricultural Development on Anopheline Ecology and Malaria Epidemiology

Yasuoka, Junko; Levins, Richard

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.450

Cited by 259 publications

(213 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…They also increase exposure to other vector-borne diseases associated with significant morbidity and mortality including Rift Valley fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, dracunculosis, onchocerciasis, and Japanese encephalitis (13)(14)(15)(16). Deforestation increases exposure to malaria in Africa (17)(18)(19)(20)(21) and South America (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) but has less predictable impacts in Asia (27)(28)(29)(30)(31) where there are many more Anopheles vectors with less generalizable responses to reduced forest cover. In parts of Africa, forest cutting also alters the composition and density of aquatic snail species in a manner that favors transmission of schistosomiasis (32).…”

Section: Highlights Of the Recent Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration

Myers

Gaffikin²,

Golden

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

357

249

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Human activity is rapidly transforming most of Earth's natural systems. How this transformation is impacting human health, whose health is at greatest risk, and the magnitude of the associated disease burden are relatively new subjects within the field of environmental health. We discuss what is known about the human health implications of changes in the structure and function of natural systems and propose that these changes are affecting human health in a variety of important ways. We identify several gaps and limitations in the research that has been done to date and propose a more systematic and comprehensive approach to applied research in this field. Such efforts could lead to a more robust understanding of the human health impacts of accelerating environmental change and inform decision making in the land-use planning, environmental conservation, and public health policy realms.At least since Hippocrates wrote On Airs, Waters, and Places, the natural environment has been viewed as an important determinant of human health. However, over the last century, the field of environmental health has focused increasingly on quantifying exposure-response relationships for toxins encountered in the human-dominated environment: from an initial focus on workplace exposures, to a population-level focus on radiation, heavy metals, air and water pollution, and more recently, to exposure to endocrinedisrupting chemicals. Over this period, relatively little attention has been paid to how changes in the structure and function of Earth's natural systems might affect human health. Growing evidence that changes in these natural systems can affect human health in a variety of important ways and the increasing pace and extent of these changes has prompted this Perspective. In it, we review current understanding of this field, identify some of its gaps and limitations, and suggest an approach to expanding our understanding.Human activity is transforming nearly all of Earth's natural systems. With the human population now exceeding 7 billion people and rapid growth in per capita consumption of goods and services, humanity's growing ecological footprint is altering the planet's land cover, rivers and oceans, climate system, biogeochemical cycles, and the

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Section: Highlights Of the Recent Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration

Myers

Gaffikin²,

Golden

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

357

249

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The thin evidence base focuses on specific drivers of specific diseases (6), typically climate (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), biodemography and migration (13,(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), or land-use change (20,(31)(32)(33). Expanding this literature into multifactorial analyses could provide a more comprehensive picture of the human ecology of these diseases, including the role of specific behaviors and policies (8,34).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public health impacts of ecosystem change in the Brazilian Amazon

Bauch¹,

Birkenbach

Pattanayak

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The claim that nature delivers health benefits rests on a thin empirical evidence base. Even less evidence exists on how specific conservation policies affect multiple health outcomes. We address these gaps in knowledge by combining municipal-level panel data on diseases, public health services, climatic factors, demographics, conservation policies, and other drivers of land-use change in the Brazilian Amazon. To fully exploit this dataset, we estimate random-effects and quantile regression models of disease incidence. We find that malaria, acute respiratory infection (ARI), and diarrhea incidence are significantly and negatively correlated with the area under strict environmental protection. Results vary by disease for other types of protected areas (PAs), roads, and mining. The relationships between diseases and land-use change drivers also vary by quantile of the disease distribution. Conservation scenarios based on estimated regression results suggest that malaria, ARI, and diarrhea incidence would be reduced by expanding strict PAs, and malaria could be further reduced by restricting roads and mining. Although these relationships are complex, we conclude that interventions to preserve natural capital can deliver cobenefits by also increasing human (health) capital.infectious diseases | roads | mining | protected areas | Amazon forest

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“…In 1981, the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam in southeast Pará province, Brazil, caused enormous environmental changes, deforestation, and human migration to the region, and a study 30 confirmed the elevation of malaria to the epidemic level since then. In a review of the literature 27 , sixty examples of changes in anopheline ecology throughout the tropical world were identified as a consequence of deforestation and agricultural development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The year-round high rainfall and temperatures in tropical forests are ecological characteristics that favor the development of many kinds of mosquitoes that transmit pathogens that cause disease in humans 26 . Thus, the process of clearing forests and the subsequent human activities, such as agricultural and hydropower developments, have a high influence on the prevalence and incidence of diseases such as human malaria 27 . In a study that examined the ecological alteration in the Peruvian Amazon 28 , it was shown that various landscapes and ecological features associated with deforestation were positively associated with Anopheles darlingi larval breeding sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Poisson spatiotemporal regression models for the Brazilian Amazon Forest: malaria count data

Achcar

Martinez

Souza

et al. 2011

Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop.

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Introduction: Malaria is a serious problem in the Brazilian Amazon region, and the detection of possible risk factors could be of great interest for public health authorities. The objective of this article was to investigate the association between environmental variables and the yearly registers of malaria in the Amazon region using Bayesian spatiotemporal methods. Methods: We used Poisson spatiotemporal regression models to analyze the Brazilian Amazon forest malaria count for the period from 1999 to 2008. In this study, we included some covariates that could be important in the yearly prediction of malaria, such as deforestation rate. We obtained the inferences using a Bayesian approach and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to simulate samples for the joint posterior distribution of interest. The discrimination of different models was also discussed. Results: The model proposed here suggests that deforestation rate, the number of inhabitants per km 2 , and the human development index (HDI) are important in the prediction of malaria cases. Conclusions: It is possible to conclude that human development, population growth, deforestation, and their associated ecological alterations are conducive to increasing malaria risk. We conclude that the use of Poisson regression models that capture the spatial and temporal effects under the Bayesian paradigm is a good strategy for modeling malaria counts.

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Impact of Deforestation and Agricultural Development on Anopheline Ecology and Malaria Epidemiology

Cited by 259 publications

References 58 publications

Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration

Human health impacts of ecosystem alteration

Public health impacts of ecosystem change in the Brazilian Amazon

Use of Poisson spatiotemporal regression models for the Brazilian Amazon Forest: malaria count data

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