Early Warning System for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Western Amazonia: technological innovation aiming at adaptation to negative impacts of global climate change on human health

Abstract

The general objective is to develop adaptation strategies and tools to face the negative impacts of Global Climate Change on Human Health. The specific objectives are: a) to monitor changes at the Southwestern Amazonia tri-national frontier in the eco-epidemiology of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Bartonellosis, and b) in local/regional temperature, rainfall, air humidity, wind, altitude, and land use/cover; c) to identify the sand fly vectors (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) involved with the transmission of both diseases; d) to develop the Early Warning System for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Southwestern Amazonia; e) to broadly disseminate the results/achievements. This project satisfies FAPESP PFPMCG criteria and is relevant to the Clima change crisis, by focusing on 'Studies on climate change impacts on human and natural systems, vulnerabilities identification and research aiming at adaptation', and by addressing 'Climatic Changes and Effects on Human Health', and 'Human Dimensions of Global Climatic Changes: Socio-economic-Impacts, Vulnerability, and Responses, including Adaptation to Climate Change'. In the first two years the following tasks are performed: Serum-epidemiological inquires; Vectors' identification and ecology assessment; Mapping changes in land use/cover in the region; Laboratorial analysis of blood samples and vectors; GIS databank building. By its end, this project will have produced the Early Warning System for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Southwestern Amazonia using techniques of Spatial Epidemiology, Univariate and Multivariate Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Principal Components Analysis, Discriminate Analysis, Correspondence Analysis and Neural Networks/Artificial Intelligence for assessing infectious diseases. It will have communicated its results to the relevant scientific communities through scientific and media publications and through the scientific meetings attended. Moreover, the results/achievements will be multiplied by means of workshops for health-service managers and policy-makers as well as by training courses for students. (AU)