TITLE:
GIS-Based Situational Analysis of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Disease (CLD) in Sri Lanka
AUTHORS:
Sampath Arunashantha, Mangala Jayarathne, Saseeka Wijesekera, Nishan Sakalasooriya, Charuni Kottage
KEYWORDS:
Sandflies Disease, Geoinformatics Techniques, Environmental Factors, Dry Zone
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
22,
2023
ABSTRACT: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a severe health
problem and a parasitic disease on human dermal and widely pervades tropical
and subtropical developing counties. The study is mainly focused on Geographic
Information System (GIS) based Situational Analysis (SA). The clinically
recorded 394 CL patients’ information was obtained from the District General
Hospital of Polonnaruwa (DGHP) for 2017 and 2018. The spatial distribution of
these patients was collected using Global Positing System (GPS). Moran’s I
Index spatial autocorrelation technique and Getis-Ord Gi were used to identify
the study site’s hot spot and cold spot areas. More than 75% of the CL
patients’ population were highly involved with agricultural activities, and
they are the highly exposed group of the CL in the study area. Also, 75% of the
CL population were men, and the highly vulnerable age group was 35 - 39 men and
40 - 44 women. The generated Moran’s I Index indicates 0.0321, representing a
randomly distributed pattern of CL patients over the District, and the Getis-Ord Gi Z Score value was >1.96 (p Hence to prevent the disease spread, it is essential
to implement an awareness program regarding sandflies’ behaviour and CLD.