The Potential of West Nile Virus Transmission Regarding the Environmental Factors Using Geographic Information System (GIS), West Azerbaijan Province, Iran

BACKGROUND: West Nile fever, as an expanding zoonotic disease, has been reported from different creatures involved in the disease from Iran. In addition to biological mosquito-associated factors, various elements such as their activities, distribution, behavior and vectorial capacity could be affected by environmental factors. We determined the distribution of West Nile virus (WNV) vectors, the environmental factors affecting WNV transmission and the high-risk areas across West Azerbaijan Province (Northwestern Iran), regarding the potential of WNV transmission using Geographical Information System (GIS). METHODS: Mosquitoes’ larvae and adults were collected from different habitats of the province in 2015 and identified using standard morphological keys. The data regarding the distribution of mosquitoes across the studied area were organized in ArcMap databases. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation analysis was conducted on the data of synoptic stations to find climatic variables in the collection sites of different mosquito species. Layers of transmission-related environmental factors were categorized and weighed based on their effects on disease transmission. RESULTS: Overall, 2813 samples of different mosquito species from different regions of the province were collected and identified. According to the GIS analysis, areas in the northeastern province, which have lower altitudes and slopes with higher temperatures and more water bodies, were found to have better condition for the activity of mosquitoes (as high-risk areas: hot spots). CONCLUSION: The precision of our results was proven to be in line with previous study results that identified high-risk areas, where WNV-infected vectors were captured from these same areas.