Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (Jan 2023)
Unraveling the Variation Pattern of <i>Oncomelania hupensis</i> in the Yangtze River Economic Belt Based on Spatiotemporal Analysis
Abstract
The construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB) is a great national economic development strategy in China. As the YEB covers most endemic provinces of schistosomiasis japonica featured by low endemicity, this study aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of Oncomelania hupensis (O. hupensis), which serves as the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum in the YEB. Annual data reflecting the distribution of O. hupensis from 2015 to 2021 were collected from the National Institute of Parasitic Disease, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Spatial autocorrelation analysis, hotspot analysis and space–time scan analysis were performed to explore the aggregation features and spatiotemporal dynamics of the snail distribution. The distribution of both total snail habitats (during 2015–2021) and emerging snail habitats (in 2016, 2018 and 2020) showed spatial autocorrelation (Z = 15.8~16.1, p p O. hupensis. Surveillance and risk identification based on the snail presence should be strengthened to provide reference for protecting humans and public health security in the YEB.
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