Reemergence of Yellow Fever in Brazil: The Role of Distinct Landscape Fragmentation Thresholds

Ilacqua, Roberto Cardoso; Medeiros‐Sousa, Antônio Ralph; Ramos, Daniel; Obara, Marcos Takashi; Ceretti-Júnior, Walter; Mucci, Luís Filipe; Marrelli, Mauro Toledo; Laporta, Gabriel Zorello

doi:10.1155/2021/8230789

Cited by 30 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Ilacqua et al, 2021). These ndings indicate the importance of edge surfaces in YFV maintenance and transmission and suggest that these surfaces may be the main element in this equation.…”

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confidence: 76%

The role of deforestation and fragmentation in yellow fever virus dispersal

Wilk-da-Silva

Prist

Medeiros‐Sousa

et al. 2022

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Context The intense process of deforestation in tropical forests poses serious challenges for the survival of biodiversity, as well as for the human species itself. This scenario is supported by the increase in the incidence of epidemics of zoonotic origin observed over the last few decades. In the specific case of sylvatic yellow fever (YF), it has already been shown that an increase in the transmission risk of the causative agent (yellow fever virus - YFV) is associated with areas with a high degree of forest fragmentation, which can facilitate the spread of the virus. Methods In this study we tested the hypothesis that areas with more fragmented landscapes and a higher edge density (ED) but a high degree of connectivity between forest patches favor YFV spread. To this end, we used YF epizootics in non-human primates (NHPs) in the state of São Paulo to build direct networks, and used a multi-selection approach to analyze which landscape features could facilitate YFV spread. Results Our results showed that municipalities with the potential to spread the virus exhibited a higher amount of forest edge. Additionally, the models with greater empirical support showed a strong association between forest edge density and the risk of occurrence of epizootic diseases, as well as the need for a minimum threshold of native vegetation cover to restrict their transmission. Conclusions These findings corroborate our hypothesis that more fragmented landscapes with a higher degree of connectivity favor the spread of YFV, while landscapes with fewer connections tend to act as dead zones for the circulation of the virus.

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“…Ilacqua et al, 2021). These ndings indicate the importance of edge surfaces in YFV maintenance and transmission and suggest that these surfaces may be the main element in this equation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 76%

The role of deforestation and fragmentation in yellow fever virus dispersal

Wilk-da-Silva

Prist

Medeiros‐Sousa

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…5 c, rectangle f). This type of landscape, characterized by intermediate levels of forest cover with numerous fragments producing higher availability of forest edges, was recently identified as more prone to the occurrence of human cases in a municipality-level analysis [ 61 ]. In this type of environment, the spread of the virus between the fragments possibly occurs through wind currents that facilitate and enhance the flight of vector mosquitoes [ 20 , 30 , 62 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and environmental factors affecting transmission of sylvatic yellow fever in the 2017–2019 outbreak in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

et al. 2022

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Background Yellow fever virus (YFV) is an arbovirus that, despite the existence of a safe and effective vaccine, continues to cause outbreaks of varying dimensions in the Americas and Africa. Between 2017 and 2019, Brazil registered un unprecedented sylvatic YFV outbreak whose severity was the result of its spread into zones of the Atlantic Forest with no signals of viral circulation for nearly 80 years. Methods To investigate the influence of climatic, environmental, and ecological factors governing the dispersion and force of infection of YFV in a naïve area such as the landscape mosaic of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), we combined the analyses of a large set of data including entomological sampling performed before and during the 2017–2019 outbreak, with the geolocation of human and nonhuman primates (NHP) and mosquito infections. Results A greater abundance of Haemagogus mosquitoes combined with lower richness and diversity of mosquito fauna increased the probability of finding a YFV-infected mosquito. Furthermore, the analysis of functional traits showed that certain functional groups, composed mainly of Aedini mosquitoes which includes Aedes and Haemagogus mosquitoes, are also more representative in areas where infected mosquitoes were found. Human and NHP infections were more common in two types of landscapes: large and continuous forest, capable of harboring many YFV hosts, and patches of small forest fragments, where environmental imbalance can lead to a greater density of the primary vectors and high human exposure. In both, we show that most human infections (~ 62%) occurred within an 11-km radius of the finding of an infected NHP, which is in line with the flight range of the primary vectors. Conclusions Together, our data suggest that entomological data and landscape composition analyses may help to predict areas permissive to yellow fever outbreaks, allowing protective measures to be taken to avoid human cases. Graphical Abstract

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“…Our finding that prevalence of P. knowlesi in macaques is higher in fragmented habitat also lends clarity to evidence that forest fragmentation is a risk factor for human exposure to P. knowlesi in Malaysian Borneo 3,32 . In Brazil, re-emergence of Yellow Fever Virus in both simians and humans has been linked to areas with highly fragmented forest 10 . Recent mechanistic models have demonstrated that the effect of landscape changes on risk of disease spillover into human populations is also nonlinear, with the greatest probability of disease emergence at intermediate levels of habitat loss.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This disturbs the ecological structure by increasing the density of forest fringes or ‘edges’, dynamic habitat at the transitional boundaries between natural ecosystems and human-modified landscapes 6 . Such ecological interfaces are thought to facilitate parasite spillover in multi-host systems, including vector-borne diseases such as Zika 7 , Babesiosis and Lyme disease 8 , Trypanosoma cruzi 9 , Yellow Fever 10 and zoonotic malaria 3,11 . Mechanisms that underly the association between habitat fragmentation and spillover risk from wildlife hosts are complex and occur over multiple spatial scales 3 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape drives zoonotic malaria prevalence in non-human primates

Johnson

Sharma

Cuenca

et al. 2022

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Land conversion is understood to increase the risk of emergent zoonotic diseases. In simians and humans, infection risk has been linked to fragmented habitats. However, the role of fragmentation on disease dynamics in wildlife hosts is rarely quantified at macroecological scales due to the lack of systematic surveys. In Southeast Asia, non-human primates (NHPs) host Plasmodium knowlesi, a prominent zoonotic malaria. We examine reported primate P. knowlesi to investigate how landscape impacts parasite prevalence. Firstly, we conducted a meta-analysis of NHP P. knowlesi prevalence. Overall prevalence was 9.6% (CI95% 6.3-13.4), with considerable regional heterogeneity (I2=96.6%; CI95% 95.7-97.3) and high estimates in Borneo (52.4%, CI95% 22.8-81.3). Higher prevalence in NHPs shows clear spatial overlap with human infection foci. Secondly, environmental covariates were assembled from remote sensing data and statistical models were fitted to prevalence at multiple spatial scales. We demonstrate a strong relationship between forest fragmentation (20km, p<0.0001) and P. knowlesi in NHPs, suggesting that zoonotic malaria prevalence is maximised at intermediate levels of habitat complexity. Findings indicate a previously hypothesised trade-off between epidemiological and ecological mechanisms determining P. knowlesi infection in wildlife reservoirs, and that parasite prevalence in NHPs may be a key driver of human spillover risk.

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Reemergence of Yellow Fever in Brazil: The Role of Distinct Landscape Fragmentation Thresholds

Cited by 30 publications

References 39 publications

The role of deforestation and fragmentation in yellow fever virus dispersal

The role of deforestation and fragmentation in yellow fever virus dispersal

Ecological and environmental factors affecting transmission of sylvatic yellow fever in the 2017–2019 outbreak in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Landscape drives zoonotic malaria prevalence in non-human primates

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