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Understanding the distribution of tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) in different periods enables the adequate conduction of actions at the public health level. The present study analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution of TL incidence rates in the municipalities of Brazil and identifies priority areas from 2001 to 2020. Notifications of new cases were analyzed employing space-time scan statistics and Local Indicators of Spatial Association. As TL incidence rates presented a downward trend in most Brazilian municipalities, spatiotemporal clusters of high relative risks (RR) were more frequent in the first decade of the series. There was a concentration of those clusters in the North and Northeast regions, mainly in the Legal Amazon area. More recent high-RR areas were identified in municipalities of different regions. The number of priority municipalities showed a stable trend in Brazil. There was a great concentration of such municipalities in the states of Acre, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Pará, and Amapá, as well as large areas in Roraima, Amazonas, Maranhão, and Tocantins, and smaller areas in the states of Goiás, Ceará, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Paraná. The present study contributes to the understanding of the historical evolution of TL in Brazil and subsidizes actions to combat the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study describes the spatio‐temporal dynamics of new visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases notified in Brazil between 2001 and 2020. Methods and Results: Data on the occurrence of the disease were obtained by means of the Notifiable Diseases Information System of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Joinpoint, temporal generalized additive models and conditional autoregressive (CAR) models were used to analyse the temporal evolution of the rates in Brazil, states and regions. Spatio‐temporal generalized additive and CAR models were used to identify the distribution of annual risks of VL occurrence in the Brazilian territory in relation to variation in the spatial average. There were 63,966 VL cases in the target period (3.198 cases/year), corresponding to a mean incidence rate of 1.68 cases/100,000 inhabitants. Of these, 4451 resulted in deaths, which gives a mean mortality rate of 0.12 deaths/100,000 inhabitants and a case fatality of 6.96%. The highest incidence rate was found in the North region, followed closely by the Northeast region, which presented the second and first highest mortality rates, respectively. For all of Brazil, and in the Northeast region, there were stability in the incidence rates, while the other regions showed an increasing trend in different time segments in the period: Central‐West up to 2011, North up to 2008, Southeast up to 2004, and South up to 2010. On the other hand, all regions experienced a reduction in incidence rate during the last years of the series. The Northeast region had the highest number of municipalities with statistically significant elevated relative risks. The spatio‐temporal analysis showed the highest risk area predominantly in the Northeast region in the beginning of the time series. From 2002 to 2018, this area expanded to the interior of the country. Conclusions: The present study has shown that VL has expanded in Brazil. However, the North and Northeast regions continue to have the highest incidence, and the risk of infection has decreased in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a set of tropical diseases widely distributed throughout the world. Publications concerning different aspects of leishmaniasis have shown an increasing trend in recent years, especially in Brazil, where this disease has been under continuous expansion. The present study analyzes the data and assess trends in publications on leishmaniasis in Brazil and worldwide. Methodology: The bibliometric analysis was performed on the Scopus database, addressing data on scientific publications about leishmaniasis in the first nineteen years of the 21st century. The tendency of the annual number of publications was analyzed by mean of linear regression equations. Results: The literature search identified 19.317 publications. Brazil was the country with the largest number of studies (24.88%). The annual growth rate for Brazilian publications was 4.66%, whereas worldwide publications grew 2.96%. The leading ten international authors contributed to 8.71% of the publications, whereas the ten principal Brazilian authors contributed to 4.31%. The largest collaboration network between authors was between Brazil and the United States. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation occupied the premier position in both worldwide and Brazilian ranking in number of publications. The international journal with the largest number of publications and SCImago Journal Rank indicator was PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The Journal of Immunology had the highest H-index. Most of the research covered topics related to immunology and molecular biology. Conclusions: The data show relevant characteristics of the scientific production on leishmaniasis and demonstrate the fundamental role played by Brazil in the production of knowledge in this area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information concerning the factors affecting the circulation and distribution of free-roaming dogs is crucial in developing control actions and limiting the spread of zoonoses. The present study analyzes the influence of gender, sterilization, and environment on the spatial distribution of free-roaming dogs in urban settings. Animals were captured/recaptured in seven consecutive morning sampling efforts conducted at 2-monthly intervals in control and intervention areas in a medium-size town in southeastern Brazil. Capture locations were georeferenced and captured animals were microchipped before being released at their original capture sites. Dogs captured in the intervention area were subjected additionally to surgical sterilization prior to release. Home range (HR) areas were calculated by applying the minimum convex polygon method to dogs that had been captured at least three times. Land coverage zones were determined from satellite images and overlaid on maps of the study areas along with the locations of 22 commercial food outlets. HR areas showed a global mean of 448 m 2 and a median of 28 m 2 , values that were smaller than those reported previously for dogs in rural regions. The median HR of females (64.m 2 ) was higher than that of males (15 m 2 ), while median HRs of animals in the control and intervention areas were similar (27 and 28.5 m 2 , respectively). Variability of HR was high, although animals with small HRs predominated. Free-roaming dogs grouped primarily in urbanized and transitional regions, and their spatial distribution was positively correlated with locations of commercial food outlets. While sterilization did not influence HR size, the search for food was a key factor in determining mobility and spatial aggregation of free-roaming dogs. Our findings are pertinent in understanding the ecology of free-roaming dogs in urban environments and will be applicable to strategies aimed at promoting animal welfare and preventing the dissemination of zoonoses., (Copyright © 2020 Melo, da Silva, Barbosa, Teixeira-Neto, Lacorte, Horta, Cardoso, Werneck, Struchiner and Belo.)