Spatial Distribution Study of Visceral Leishmaniasis in East Azerbaijan Province

Background and Objectives: Visceral leishmaniasis is a zoonotic diseases and is endemic in northwest of Iran and annually 100-300 positive cases are reported. The aim of this study was to determine the spatial distribution of visceral leishmaniasis in East Azerbaijan province. Material and Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that was done on visceral leishmaniasis patients from 2009-2016 which is analyzed based on interpolation and SPSS v.25 and ArcMap10.4.1 have been used. Results: Totally 78 patients were identified during the study, of which 57.7% were living in rural areas and 42.3% in urban areas. More than 90% of cases have occurred in children under the age of 5 years. The northeastern part of the province, which has a higher average rainfall and a moderate temperature, was identified as a high risk area of the disease and a hot spot of disease among the Kalibar and Ahar counties. Conclusion: Visceral leishmaniasis has increased by 3-4 times since 2013 in East Azarbaijan province and residents of border areas with Ardebil province and Azerbaijan Republic are at the risk of transmitting the disease.