Bayesian Geostatistical Modeling of Leishmaniasis Incidence in Brazil

Background: Leishmaniasis is endemic in 98 countries with an estimated 350 million people at risk and approximately 2 million cases annually. Brazil is one of the most severely affected countries. Methodology: We applied Bayesian geostatistical negative binomial models to analyze reported incidence data of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil covering a 10-year period (2001–2010). Particular emphasis was placed on spatial and temporal patterns. The models were fitted using integrated nested Laplace approximations to perform fast approximate Bayesian inference. Bayesian variable selection was employed to determine the most important climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic predictors of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Principal Findings: For both types of leishmaniasis, precipitation and socioeconomic proxies were identified as important risk factors. The predicted number of cases in 2010 were 30,189 (standard deviation [SD]: 7,676) for cutaneous leishmaniasis and 4,889 (SD: 288) for visceral leishmaniasis. Our risk maps predicted the highest numbers of infected people in the states of Minas Gerais and Pará for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, respectively. Conclusions/Significance: Our spatially explicit, high-resolution incidence maps identified priority areas where leishmaniasis control efforts should be targeted with the ultimate goal to reduce disease incidence. Author Summary: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease that causes approximately 20 to 40 thousand deaths every year. In Brazil, more than 600,000 clinical cases of leishmaniasis have been reported since 1990. Almost 90% of these cases are due to cutaneous leishmaniasis, whereas the remaining 10% are due to visceral leishmaniasis. Understanding of disease transmission, together with model-based incidence maps, will assist in designing and optimizing control efforts. We used reported leishmaniasis incidence data in Brazil covering the period between 2001 and 2010 to explore the association of the disease with climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic variables, and to predict its spatial distribution using Bayesian geostatistical models. We produced countrywide high spatial resolution maps for both forms of leishmaniasis and estimated the number of infected people, stratified by state. We believe that our incidence maps are useful to prioritize the spatial targeting of prevention and control.