Study of Geographical Features of Animal Fasciolosis in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province During 2016-2018 Using Geographic Information System (GIS) Method: A Cross-Sectional Study

Fascioliasis is a common disease of human and animals caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica. The life cycle of these trematodes is influenced by climatic and geographical factors. The aim of this study was to determine the geographical features of animal fascioliasis in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province during 2016-2018 using GIS method.

In this cross-sectional study, the prevalence of fasciola in slaughtered animals in different cities was extracted from the information of the provincechr('39')s veterinary department. Climatic layers were constructed based on interpolation models. Data on mean annual rainfall, evaporation and humidity, mean annual wind velocity, mean annual temperature, mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures, average height, average slope and area of each vegetation were extracted from the reference ground layers. The relationship between each variable and the prevalence of the disease in the two groups of cities, with high and low prevalence, was evaluated using independent two-sample t-test.

The highest prevalence of fasciolosis in slaughtered animals in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province was 5.3% and belonged to Gachsaran city. There was a direct relationship between the mean annual humidity and the prevalence of fasciolosis (p=0.023). No significant relationship was found between other studied factors and the rate of infection (p>0.05).

It seems that the relationship between humidity and the prevalence of fasciolosis is mainly due to the effect of humidity on the life cycle of snails and the host plants. Using these results, the quality of disease control programs can be improved and significant savings in the costs of animal husbandry and health care can be achieved.