On the relationship between Amazonian deforestation and the incidence of malaria

[sl8]

From https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25344-5

Abundance of impacted forest patches less than 5?km2 is a key driver of the incidence of malaria in Amazonian Brazil

Abstract

The precise role that deforestation for agricultural settlements and commercial forest products plays in promoting or inhibiting malaria incidence in Amazonian Brazil is controversial. Using publically available databases, we analyzed temporal malaria incidence (2009–2015) in municipalities of nine Amazonian states in relation to ecologically defined variables: (i) deforestation (rate of forest clearing over time); (ii) degraded forest (degree of human disturbance and openness of forest canopy for logging) and (iii) impacted forest (sum of deforested and degraded forest patches). We found that areas affected by one kilometer square of deforestation produced 27 new malaria cases (r²?=?0.78; F1,10?=?35.81; P?<?0.001). Unexpectedly, we found both a highly significant positive correlation between number of impacted forest patches less than 5 km2 and malaria cases, and that these patch sizes accounted for greater than ~95% of all patches in the study area. There was a significantly negative correlation between extraction forestry economic indices and malaria cases. Our results emphasize not only that deforestation promotes malaria incidence, but also that it directly or indirectly results in a low Human Development Index, and favors environmental conditions that promote malaria vector proliferation.

...

More at link.

[byronius]

1. Great post.

[Igel]

2. Or perhaps ...

"Increasing rural population density increases exposure risk to malaria. Barely inhabited portions of rainforest, with an indigenous population, reports few new cases of malaria per year due to minimal exposure."

[Duppers]

3. Our suicide is picking up speed.

Thanks for posting this.