Identification of parasite-host habitats in Anxiang county, Hunan Province, China based on multi-temporal China-Brazil earth resources satellite (CBERS) images

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 29;8(7):e69447. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069447. Print 2013.

Abstract

Remote sensing is a promising technique for monitoring the distribution and dynamics of various vector-borne diseases. In this study, we used the multi-temporal CBERS images, obtained free of charge, to predict the habitats of the snail Oncomelania hupensis, the sole intermediate host of schistosomiasis japonica, a snail-borne parasitic disease of considerable public health in China. Areas of suitable snail habitats were identified based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference water index (NDWI), and the predictive model was tested against sites (snails present or absent) that were surveyed directly for O. hupensis. The model performed well (sensitivity and specificity were 63.64% and 78.09%, respectively), and with further development, we may provide an accurate, inexpensive tool for the broad-scale monitoring and control of schistosomiasis, and other similar vector-borne diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brazil
  • China
  • Ecosystem*
  • Geography
  • Host-Parasite Interactions / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Parasites / physiology*
  • Reference Standards
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Rivers
  • Satellite Communications*
  • Seasons
  • Snails / growth & development
  • Snails / parasitology
  • Time Factors
  • Water

Substances

  • Water

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grants awarded to Dr. Zhijie Zhang and Dr. Qingwu Jiang from National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 81102167, 81172609, and J1210041); Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (SRFDP), (grant 20110071120040); a Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China (FANEDD) (201186), the National S&T Major Program (2012ZX10004220, 2008ZX10004-011), the Ecological Environment and Humanities/Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Project of Tyndall Center of Fudan University (FTC98503A09), and the Key Discipline Construction of Public Health of Shanghai (12GWZX0101). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.