US-Mexico Planning Visits and Pilot Project on the Social-Ecology of Leptospirosis in an Urban-Rural Gradient

钩端螺旋体病是一种对动物和公共卫生具有重要意义的感染，由钩端螺旋体细菌引起，可从动物传播给人类。据报道，它每年造成全球100万例人类感染病例，并对动物生产力造成未知的、但潜在的高度有害影响。环境因素、恶劣的生活条件和导致接触动物的职业是感染的决定因素。拟议的项目将汇集来自美国和墨西哥的研究人员，以确定有关社会、文化和生态因素对钩端螺旋体传播的综合影响的关键研究问题，并开展后续创新研究调查。该项目和新的合作也将代表着中美洲在钩端螺旋体病研究方面更大、更协调的区域努力的第一步。更广泛的影响包括对美国和墨西哥研究人员的交叉培训，为美国学生提供培训机会，以及协助当地社区领导人和公共/动物卫生当局进行疾病控制工作。钩端螺旋体病传播的机制以及影响人类和动物感染可能性的生态和社会学因素尚不清楚。一个主要因素是缺乏真正的综合和多学科研究。在墨西哥，就像在许多其他发展中国家一样，钩端螺旋体病是一种研究不足的疾病。该项目的主要目标是：1)正式汇聚美国和墨西哥在流行病学、生态学、数学建模、环境风险评估、项目评估和人类学领域的新的多学科专家团队；2)根据对现有数据的评估以及对钩端螺旋体病驱动因素和影响的现有知识中的主要差距和需求进行后续研究；以及3)总结墨西哥城东南部和尤卡坦研究地区人、动物和环境中钩端螺旋体病的状况，以及社会、人口和生态条件。这些目标将通过美国研究人员和学生的一系列访问来实现，以计划、协调和执行该项目。这一初步项目将产生关于墨西哥钩端螺旋体病的新信息，并使研究小组为进一步研究影响人和动物感染以及城乡梯度的生态和社会学因素做好准备。

Leptospirosis, an infection of importance for animal and public health, is caused by Leptospira bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans. It is responsible for reportedly one million human cases worldwide each year and, an undetermined, but potentially high deleterious impact on animal productivity. Environmental factors, poor living conditions, and occupations leading to contact with animals are among the determinants of infection. The proposed project will bring together investigators from the U.S. and Mexico to identify critical research questions on the combined influence of social, cultural, and ecological factors on Leptospira transmission and to develop follow-on innovative research investigations. The project and new collaborations will also represent the initial step of a larger, coordinated regional effort on leptospirosis research in Central America. Broader impacts include cross-training of U.S. and Mexican researchers, training opportunities for U.S. students, and assisting local community leaders and public/animal health authorities with disease control efforts. The mechanisms involved in the transmission of leptospirosis and the ecological and sociological factors that affect the likelihood of human and animal infection are poorly understood. A major factor is the lack of truly integrated and multi-disciplinary research. In Mexico, as in many other developing countries, leptospirosis is an under-studied disease. The main objectives of this project are to: 1) formally bring together a new multi-disciplinary team of U.S. and Mexican experts in the areas of epidemiology, ecology, mathematical modeling, environmental risk assessment, program assessment, and anthropology 2) generate follow-on research based on the evaluation of existing data and the main gaps and needs in the current knowledge of leptospirosis drivers and impact; and 3) summarize the status of leptospirosis in people, animals, and the environment, as well as social, demographic and ecological conditions, in the study areas of south-east Mexico city and Yucatan. The objectives will be accomplished through a series of visits by the U.S. researchers and students to plan, coordinate, and execute the project. This initial project will produce novel information on leptospirosis in Mexico and prepare the research team for further investigations on the ecological and sociological elements that influence human and animal infection and in a rural-urban gradient.