Research On Monitor And Simulation Of Schistosomiasis Around Poyang Lake Based On Remote Sensing And Agent

With the development of spatial information technologies such as GIS, RS, multi-dimention information visualization and Virtual Geographic Environment (VGE), more researchers have undertaken to apply the technologies to study infectious disease transmission and control. Spatial information technologies can provide new tools for better understanding the spatiotemporal charateristics of disease transmission.Schistosomiasis is a water-borne parasitic disease that affects people and brutes. It is caused by an infection by parasitic worms of the genus Schistosoma. The life cycle of the schistosome begins with the sexual pairing of adult worms in the blood vessels of the mammalian host and the excretion of eggs in feces. The eggs hatch in the water and release a free-swimming miracidium whose objective in life is to find and penetrate an appropriate snail in which to develop. Without snails, there will be no schistosomiasis. After asexual reproduction, tailed, free-swimming larvac called cercariae leave the snail and are transported in water where they actively seek an appropriate vertebrate host. Cercaria can penetrate the intact skin of the host, thus infecting them. They subsecquently mature into adult worms and mate to complete the cycle. Without contact between contaminated water and a vertebrate host, such as humans and cattle, there will be no schistosomiasis.Schistosomiasis has existed in China for over 2,100 years, and remains one of country's most serious public health problems. Nearly one million Chinese are infected with schistosomiasis. Despite great success in eradicating the disease in some areas, schistosomiasis remains endemic in 118 counties in seven provinces, placing an estimated 40 million at risk of infection. The Poyang Lake, located in Jianxi Province, is the biggest fresh water in China. Eleven counties around the Lake comprise one of the major endemic sites of Schistosomiasis in China. The climate, geographical environment and the marshland characteristics in the Lake region are ideal for snail reproduction, and thus make Poyang Lake one of the major endemic sites of schistosomiasis in China. In recent years, some large projects such as the Three Gorges Dams Project bring about a profound influence on improving and accelerating social and economic development in China. Also, it results in some impacts on ecological environment which might make schistosomiasis more serious in the Poyang Lake area.Snail population is crucial for more refined analysis of schistosomiasis transmission and for the development of a control model. Such information is traditionally obtained...