Tourism risk for schistosomiasis in Porto de Galinhas, Pernambuco State, Brazil

Abstract

Despite the Porto de Galinhas resort - located in the City of Ipojuca, Pernambuco State, Brazil - the most popular tourist destination in the State, many hotels have been built in areas without sanitation where proliferate breeding sites and foci of Biomphalaria glabrata, the main snail transmitter of schistosomiasis. The locality is considered endemic for this disease and in the rainy season, the risk of exposure increases with streets and gardens full of snails, which promotes seasonal infection of the population of that place. The aim of the current study was to (1) perform georeferenced mapping of hotels, inns, breeding sites and outbreaks of vector snails for schistosomiasis in Merepe III district, by the use of GPS; (2) check the distance and the influence of the breeding sites, foci and accommodation places by the construction of Kernel maps; and (3) define the spatial risk for exposure or contamination of tourists using thematic Kernel maps, showing the overlap of the expansion of water depth with vector snails on accommodation places. The Merepe III district showed 37 accommodation places, seven breeding sites and a focus of B. glabrata. The Kernel map showed that 24.32%, 45.95% and 70.27% of the accommodation places are within a distance of 100, 200 and 300 m, respectively from the focus of transmission of schistosomiasis vectors. The water depth of the rains, the breeding sites and foci overlap, showing the exposure risk area for tourists that walk around the streets of Porto de Galinhas.