| dc.description.abstract | Chagas disease is endemic in Latin America, where environmental risk predictors have been studied to inform an effective vector control strategy to limit its spread. In recent years, an increase in the prevalence of Chagas disease in canine, which presents a major risk to human health, was identified in the southern United States. However, in the U.S. little is known about environmental risks that could be used for vector control of Kissing bugs, which carry the parasite of the disease (Trypanosoma cruzi). In this study, I compiled a spatial database of secondary data to identify environmental risks associated with the prevalence of Chagas disease in canines in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Locations of 100 lots from a pilot study that determined a 19.6% prevalence level of T. cruzi among 209 canines, were used to collect environmental, land development, and socio-economic secondary data surrounding each lot. Results of a logistical regression showed the following increase in the odds of a positive lot: nearly three times increase for lots within a 1-mile of a natural area (p-value 0.089), presence of a half, or one, adjacent unconstructed lot increased the odds nearly five times (p-value 0.020), and the presence of more than one canine in a lot increased the odds more than three times (p-values 0.078, 0.98, and 0.001 for two, three, and four canines per lot respectively).
The results corroborate previous studies that were conducted in Mexico, but further research is needed to understand the role of disinvestment in rendering environmental, land development, and canine characteristics as a risk of Chagas disease. Because no vaccine exists, planning policy recommendations based on vector control were formulated to prevent the spread of the disease: growth boundaries to limit residential construction in proximity to natural areas, ordinances requiring maintenance of vacant and abandoned lots in peri-urban areas, and a policy limiting the number of canines per lot in peri-urban areas. | en |
