Towards a resource-based habitat approach for spatial modelling of vector-borne disease risks

Area of Science:

• Veterinary epidemiology
• Landscape ecology
• Disease ecology

Background:

• Vector-borne diseases pose significant veterinary and public health risks.
• Current disease risk prediction models often overlook crucial landscape features and animal movement ecology.
• Existing empirical-statistical and mechanistic models have limitations in spatial explicitness and biological mechanism integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and explore the utility of the resource-based habitat concept (RBHC) for assessing landscape suitability for vector-borne diseases.
• To provide a framework for systematically identifying ecological resources essential for pathogen transmission cycles.
• To illustrate the application of RBHC using bluetongue virus as a case study.

Main Methods:

• Application of the resource-based habitat concept (RBHC).
• Systematic identification of ecological resources required for disease transmission.
• Relating identified resources to landscape features and environmental factors.
• Case study using bluetongue virus (BTV) and its associated vectors and hosts.

Main Results:

• The RBHC framework effectively identifies functional habitats for vectors and hosts.
• It provides new insights into spatial and temporal variations in disease transmission opportunities and host exposure.
• The concept aids in identifying knowledge gaps and potential control strategies related to landscape resource configuration.

Conclusions:

• The RBHC offers a robust framework for understanding and predicting vector-borne disease risk by integrating landscape and ecological resource data.
• It enhances the study of functional habitats and species interactions within disease systems.
• RBHC can serve as a bridge between existing mechanistic and statistical modeling approaches in disease ecology.