Spatially explicit agent-based modelling for schistosomiasis transmission: Human-environment interaction simulation and control strategy assessment

Background: As the transmission of many other parasitic diseases, the transmission of schistosomiasis is a complex process governed by natural, socio-economic factors and human life style. Based on the life cycle of Schistosoma japonicum, some models have been developed. However, the human-environment interaction, especially through agricultural activities, has not been explicitly modeled in previous efforts. Objective: To understand the effect of agricultural land use and other social economic factors on schistosomiasis transmission by explicitly including agricultural land use, human water contact behaviors, feces processing, and control strategies in a multi-level agent based model. Methods: We proposed a spatially explicit agent-based schistosomiasis transmission model and describe its design and implementation. We chose one endemic village near Xichang, China to construct a virtual environment with the "patch". We modeled the behaviors (water contact, feces contamination and disease control) of various agents (villages, households and individuals) in the environment and predicted the potential infection risk of human and snails in space and time with consideration of socio-economic and human behavioral factors. Results: We obtained simulation results based on different scenarios of schistosomiasis control involving two dominant types of land use and four types of control measures. We also compared the effect of different timing on chemotherapy treatment. Conclusions: The scheme for multi-level agent simulation including human-environment interaction behaviors in schistosomiasis transmission is a useful framework for assessment of different control strategies. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.