•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Deforestation is increasingly associated with the transmission of zoonotic viruses, such as the Yellow Fever virus in South America and Africa. Increasing rates of deforestation within countries on these land masses may cause viral transmission to accelerate, but that may depend on the various factors responsible for deforestation. The purpose of this study is to determine what climate factors are increasing the rate of viral transmission. For example, the deforestation caused in areas of increased precipitation may have different effects on animal hosts and vectors (e.g. mosquito) of the Yellow Fever virus compared to deforestation caused in areas of lower precipitation. In addition, population density and economic status of countries could contribute to increased viral transmission. To test this, I obtained data from various databases, including the Global Forest Watch, Center for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization. The R statistical computing software and qGIS were used for statistical and spatial analysis of the data. My results show that countries, such as Argentina and Uganda, display some of the highest levels of proportion of deforestation and precipitation along with some of the highest Yellow Fever cases. This finding may be due to populations of mosquitoes that are either displaced closer to or further away from the human population. Future studies could focus on various other types of virus transmission around the world and how public health in different communities is affected.

Download

Share

COinS