University of Twente Student Theses
Risk mapping of Visceral Leishmaniasis infections in West Pokot, Kenya : characterisation of local environmental risk factors
Kosgei, Sandra (2024) Risk mapping of Visceral Leishmaniasis infections in West Pokot, Kenya : characterisation of local environmental risk factors.
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| Abstract: | VL is a fatal neglected tropical disease, and the number of infections in Kenya has increased in recent years. Surveillance efforts in endemic areas can be improved through risk maps and knowledge of environmental risk associated with the vector and guide the development and placement of vector management tools. The anthroponotic transmission of VL is affected by the proximity to sandfly breeding habitats, population densities of the vector, abundance of plant sugar sources for the sandflies in the surroundings and presence of ample blood sources for sandfly females including host individuals. Understanding these dynamics requires detailed characterisation of the environment, particularly at a fine spatial resolution. This study aimed to model and predict VL in West Pokot at a fine spatial scale. We identified vector habitats for sandfly P. martini as termite mounds, animal sheds and the banks of seasonal rivers. Using very high-resolution worldview imagery we trained a deep learning model that was able to clearly distinguish animal sheds. However, the method was not successful with termite mounds. We extracted environmental variables at very high resolution. After modelling, NDVI had the highest contribution. We were unable to incorporate humidity, high-resolution rainfall data, and acacia trees which are crucial for vector survival. We simulated potential dispersal points for infection cases in Kacheliba using the BAM framework to generate input data. We ran a maxent model to predict risk for Visceral Leishmaniasis and the best score was an AUC of 0.805. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | ITC: Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation |
| Programme: | Spatial Engineering MSc (60962) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/103601 |
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