Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a potentially fatal tick-borne disease historically prevalent in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Since the early 2000s, there has been a notable rise in RMSF cases in the south-western U.S. Despite the documented role of dogs in tick-borne disease transmissi...
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PAGEPress Publications
2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1390 |
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| author | Yan Lin Al Ekram Elahee Hridoy Meifang Li Zhe Wang Li Luo Xiaogang Ma Zhuoming Liu Murphy John Chao Fan Irene Ruberto Xi Gong Xun Shi |
| author_facet | Yan Lin Al Ekram Elahee Hridoy Meifang Li Zhe Wang Li Luo Xiaogang Ma Zhuoming Liu Murphy John Chao Fan Irene Ruberto Xi Gong Xun Shi |
| author_sort | Yan Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a potentially fatal tick-borne disease historically prevalent in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Since the early 2000s, there has been a notable rise in RMSF cases in the south-western U.S. Despite the documented role of dogs in tick-borne disease transmission, research on the influence of other factors, such as veterinary care access, climatic conditions and landscape characteristics on RMSF incidence is limited. This study investigated the combined impact of these factors on RMSF using county-level temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, land cover, dog populations and veterinary care access in Arizona from 2006 to 2021. Employing a spatial negative binomial regression model, the study revealed significant associations between veterinary care access, precipitation, relative humidity, shrubland, and RMSF incidence across three models incorporating lagged effects (0-month, 1-month, and 2-month) for climatic variables. A key finding was that counties experiencing higher veterinary care access were more likely to report lower RMSF case counts (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.9237). The mean precipitation consistently showed the highest positive IRR (1.8137) across all models, indicating its strong influence. In contrast, relative humidity (IRR: 0.9413) and shrubland presence (IRR: 0.9265) demonstrated significant negative associations with RMSF incidence. These findings underscore the importance of veterinary care access, climatic factors, and land cover in shaping RMSF dynamics, particularly in regions with increasing incidence rates.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2f89a7a0f741432abdac7a31f6c0fd30 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1827-1987 1970-7096 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | PAGEPress Publications |
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| series | Geospatial Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-2f89a7a0f741432abdac7a31f6c0fd302025-08-20T02:39:41ZengPAGEPress PublicationsGeospatial Health1827-19871970-70962025-07-0120210.4081/gh.2025.1390Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USAYan Lin0Al Ekram Elahee Hridoy 1Meifang Li2Zhe Wang3Li Luo4Xiaogang Ma5Zhuoming Liu6Murphy John7Chao Fan8Irene Ruberto9Xi Gong10Xun Shi11Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PACollege of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NMDepartment of Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NHNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CADivision of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Preventive Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NMDepartment of Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, IDDepartment of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PADepartment of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Georgia College of Public Health, Athens, GADepartment of Geography and Environmental Studies, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NMArizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, ArizonaDepartment of Biobehavioral Health, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PennsylvaniaDepartment of Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a potentially fatal tick-borne disease historically prevalent in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Since the early 2000s, there has been a notable rise in RMSF cases in the south-western U.S. Despite the documented role of dogs in tick-borne disease transmission, research on the influence of other factors, such as veterinary care access, climatic conditions and landscape characteristics on RMSF incidence is limited. This study investigated the combined impact of these factors on RMSF using county-level temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, land cover, dog populations and veterinary care access in Arizona from 2006 to 2021. Employing a spatial negative binomial regression model, the study revealed significant associations between veterinary care access, precipitation, relative humidity, shrubland, and RMSF incidence across three models incorporating lagged effects (0-month, 1-month, and 2-month) for climatic variables. A key finding was that counties experiencing higher veterinary care access were more likely to report lower RMSF case counts (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.9237). The mean precipitation consistently showed the highest positive IRR (1.8137) across all models, indicating its strong influence. In contrast, relative humidity (IRR: 0.9413) and shrubland presence (IRR: 0.9265) demonstrated significant negative associations with RMSF incidence. These findings underscore the importance of veterinary care access, climatic factors, and land cover in shaping RMSF dynamics, particularly in regions with increasing incidence rates. https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1390Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)tick-borne diseasesclimatic factorsveterinary care access |
| spellingShingle | Yan Lin Al Ekram Elahee Hridoy Meifang Li Zhe Wang Li Luo Xiaogang Ma Zhuoming Liu Murphy John Chao Fan Irene Ruberto Xi Gong Xun Shi Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA Geospatial Health Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) tick-borne diseases climatic factors veterinary care access |
| title | Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA |
| title_full | Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA |
| title_fullStr | Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA |
| title_short | Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA |
| title_sort | associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access climatic factors and landscape in the state of arizona usa |
| topic | Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) tick-borne diseases climatic factors veterinary care access |
| url | https://www.geospatialhealth.net/gh/article/view/1390 |
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