The Ecological Risk Assessment of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks in Yazd Province, Iran

Mohammad Mehdi  Soltan Dallal; Mohammad Hassan  Ehrampoush; Ramin  Mazaheri Nezhad Fard; Farzaneh  Aminharati; Abbas Ali  Dehghani Tafti; Mehdi  Yaseri

doi:10.18502/jnfs.v9i2.15429

Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Hassan Ehrampoush Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University Medical Science, Yazd, Iran
Ramin Mazaheri Nezhad Fard Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Farzaneh Aminharati Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abbas Ali Dehghani Tafti Department of Health in Disaster and Emergency, School Public of health, Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University Medical Science, Yazd, Iran
Mehdi Yaseri Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jnfs.v9i2.15429

Keywords: Climate; Environment; Disease outbreaks; Risk; Iran.

Abstract

Background: Ecological conditions can change infection routes and increase the risks of outbreaks. The aim of this study is risk assessment of foodborne disease outbreaks based on dispersed regional climatic and demographic variables in Yazd Province, Iran.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data of temporal climatic parameters and regional demographic factors linked to bacterial foodborne diseases were addressed. A multi-level regression analysis model was used to detect associations between the risk of outbreaks and ecological risk factors; the relationships were verified using (P<0.05).

Results: Significant associations were observed between the outbreaks and age )P<0.001(, community type (P<0.001), temperature (P=0.04), rainfall (P=0.03) and dust pollution (P<0.001) in scattered parts of the province. The maximum rate of outbreaks was seen in spring, while the frequency of the outbreaks increased during April and October, compared to other months of the year (2012–2016).

Conclusion: Consequences have revealed interventions of the environmental exposures in transmissions of microbial agents by complex ecological processes that caused the outbreaks.