Find in Library

Abstract Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Iran. Wild Rodents play as a reservoir. The main aim of this study was to determine spatial analyses of the relationship between rodent’s active burrows and Incidence of ZCL in Golestan Province, north east of Iran. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in 59 rural districts in Golestan Province. Spatial distribution of rodent’s active burrows, human cases of ZCL and Incidence of disease were collected, using Geographical Infor­mation Systems (GIS). The relationship of them were analyzed by Sperman test, SPSS software version No.13. Results: The most number of rodents’ active burrows, human positive cases (100 persons) and high Incidence of disease (35/1000) were observed in Korand rural district of Gonbad-e Kavoos County. There was significant corre­lation between the number of rodents active burrows with Incidence rate of disease (0.470, P< 0.001) as well as the number of cases in each districts (0.465, P< 0.001), There is high correlation between higher Incidence rate and hu­man positive cases in districts with number of rodents’ active burrows.  Conclusion: Vicinity of wild rodents’ burrows to villages plays an important role in transmission of ZCL to humans.