Spatial distribution patterns of plague hosts: point pattern analysis of the burrows of great gerbils in Kazakhstan.

Journal of Biogeography
Liesbeth I WilschutMike Begon

Abstract

The spatial structure of a population can strongly influence the dynamics of infectious diseases, yet rarely is the underlying structure quantified. A case in point is plague, an infectious zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Plague dynamics within the Central Asian desert plague focus have been extensively modelled in recent years, but always with strong uniformity assumptions about the distribution of its primary reservoir host, the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus). Yet, while clustering of this species' burrows due to social or ecological processes could have potentially significant effects on model outcomes, there is currently nothing known about the spatial distribution of inhabited burrows. Here, we address this knowledge gap by describing key aspects of the spatial patterns of great gerbil burrows in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan. Burrows were classified as either occupied or empty in 98 squares of four different sizes: 200 m (side length), 250 m, 500 m and 590-1020 m. We used Ripley's K statistic to determine whether and at what scale there was clustering of occupied burrows, and semi-variograms to quantify spatial patterns in occupied burrows at scales of 250 m to 9 km. Significant spatial clustering of o...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 20, 2016·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Yerlan SansyzbayevAllen L Richards
Aug 10, 2017·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Michael KosoyKenneth Gage
May 8, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Susan D JonesNils Chr Stenseth
May 6, 2021·Sensors·V Javier TraverLuis A Leiva

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Software Mentioned

R package splancs
r package spatstat
R package gstat

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