Eco-epidemiology and spatiotemporal dynamics of hantavirus disease with contributions to open data generation and use

Author(s)

Renata de Lara Muylaert

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Rio Claro. 2019-12-16.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Rio Claro
• Defense date: 2019-11-26
• Advisor: Milton Cezar Ribeiro

Abstract

Hantaviruses cause diseases with high lethality and have been the target of several research proposals. With the advancement of technology, science, and Open movements, working with massive data is much more possible today than it was 20 years ago. There is a demand for studies that can summarize, make available and evaluate the role of biodiversity in processes of diffusion of zoonotic diseases. In this thesis, which began as an understanding of the extent and distribution of Atlantic Forest biodiversity, I aimed to understand the dynamics and eco-epidemiology of hantavirus. The dynamics of hantavirus infection may depend on several interacting factors such as climate and landscape, as well as the distribution of host rodent populations. In the first chapter I introduce the ATLANTIC initiative that allows free access to biodiversity data, which I have participated in intensely. In the second chapter I seek to understand the spatial extent of the Atlantic Forest and to raise the discussion about delimiting areas of ecological studies, an essential aspect to investigate pathogeography. In the third chapter I seek to understand the drivers that best explain the variation in the proportion of rodents of potentially reservoir species of lethal types of hantavirus found in the Atlantic Forest. In this chapter I also explore the idea of disease vulnerability hotspots in humans. In the fourth and final chapter, I investigated the consequences of landscape change on the incidence of hantavirus in Brazil, generating risk maps from open or public data. The results found here show that: a) individual open data initiatives led to the mobilization of large groups that summarized more than 100 years of data on Atlantic Forest biodiversity in less than four years, benefiting science and the application of scientific knowledge to biodiversity conservation measures; b) It is necessary to discuss the delimitation of an area of investigation, because depending on the limit adopted the Atlantic Forest may be half a million km2. c) rodent species relevant to hantavirus tend to be captured even in low effort samples, in areas of high landscape heterogeneity, typically agricultural and with mild rainfall levels. Pathogenic hantavirus host communities in the Atlantic Forest are influenced by anthropogenic disturbances that increase crop diversity (landscape heterogeneity) to the detriment of reduced forest areas (less than 20% forest in the landscape); d) Hazardous areas were most relevant in Cerrado and Atlantic Forest municipalities, and the mechanism for this is the greater presence of reservoir rodents, associated with a large population of rural workers and monocultures in contact with a substantial amount of native vegetation areas. The importance of investigating the hypotheses of amplification and dilution for hantavirus in these places, which are targets of agricultural expansion and intensification, as well as control and prevention measures of the disease, is emphasized. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/17739-4 - Landscape effects and the interaction between mammals and hantavirus in the Atlantic Forest
• Grantee: Renata de Lara Muylaert
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate