Land cover, land use and malaria in the Amazon: a systematic literature review of studies using remotely sensed data.

Aurelia Stefani (1, 2) , Isabelle Dusfour (3) , Ana Paula Corrêa (4) , Manoel Cruz (5) , Nadine Dessay (6) , Allan Galardo (4) , Clícia Galardo (4) , Romain Girod (3) , Margarete Gomes (7) , Helen Gurgel (8) , Ana Cristina Lima (4) , Eduardo Moreno (9) , Lise Musset (10) , Mathieu Nacher (11, 4) , Alana Soares (12) , Bernard Carme (4, 11) , Emmanuel Roux (4)

1 Epidémiologie des parasitoses et mycoses tropicales
2 STRonGer - STRonGer programme - Strenghtening Transdisciplinary Research on Infectious and Emerging Diseases in French Guiana [Cayenne, Guyane française]
3 Unité d'entomologie médicale
4 Laboratório de Entomologia
5 Secretaria Municipal de Saúde
6 UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement
7 LACEN-AP - Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública do Amapá
8 Department of Geography
9 Distrito Sanitário Especial Indígena - Amapá e Norte do Pará
10 Laboratoire de Parasitologie [Cayenne, Guyane française]
11 CIC - Antilles Guyane - Centre d'investigation clinique Antilles-Guyane
12 Agência de Desenvolvimento do Amapá

The nine countries sharing the Amazon forest accounted for 89% of all malaria cases reported in the Americas in 2008. Remote sensing can help identify the environmental determinants of malaria transmission and their temporo-spatial evolution. Seventeen studies characterizing land cover or land use features, and relating them to malaria in the Amazon subregion, were identified. These were reviewed in order to improve the understanding of the land cover/use class roles in malaria transmission. The indicators affecting the transmission risk were summarized in terms of temporal components, landscape fragmentation and anthropic pressure. This review helps to define a framework for future studies aiming to characterize and monitor malaria.

Keywords: Malaria; Land cover; Land use; Typology; Environmental factors; Landscape ecology; Remote sensing; Amazon

Domains: Infectious diseases

Aurelia Stefani, Isabelle Dusfour, Ana Paula Corrêa, Manoel Cruz, Nadine Dessay, et al.. Land cover, land use and malaria in the Amazon: a systematic literature review of studies using remotely sensed data.. Malaria Journal, 2013, 12 (1), pp.192. ⟨10.1186/1475-2875-12-192⟩. ⟨inserm-00834790⟩