Impact of temperature and precipitation on propagation of intestinal schistosomiasis in an irrigated region in Ethiopia: suitability of satellite datasets.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the suitability of satellite temperature and precipitation datasets for investigating the dependence of Schistosoma mansoni disease transmission on meteorological conditions in an irrigated agricultural region in Ethiopia.
METHODS: Data used were monthly number of patients infected with S. mansoni and seeking treatment at the local hospital, monthly maximum air temperature from a local weather station, monthly average land surface temperature from MODIS satellite data, monthly total precipitation from a local rain gauge and precipitation estimates from four widely used satellite products, namely, TMPA 3B42RT, TMPA 3B42, CMORPH and PERSIANN. The number of patients was used as proxy for vector abundance.
RESULTS: Temperature and precipitation play a role in the transmission of S. mansoni disease. There is a weak but significant positive correlation between monthly maximum air temperature derived from a meteorological station (or average land surface temperature derived from MODIS satellite product) and the number of patients in the same month. There is a significant negative correlation between monthly precipitation volume (derived from rain gauge or satellite data) and number of patients at lags of 1 and 2 months.
CONCLUSION: Satellite temperature and precipitation products provide useful information to understand and infer the relationship between meteorological conditions and S. mansoni prevalence.