202 -- The Effects of Deforestation on Yellow Fever Virus Transmission

Deforestation is increasingly associated with the transmission of zoonotic viruses, such as Malaria in South America and Ebola in Africa. Increasing rates of deforestation may cause viral transmission to accelerate. In this study, I asked how deforestation and other factors may interact to affect transmission of Yellow Fever virus. For example, deforestation in areas with higher precipitation may have different effects on animal hosts and mosquito vectors of the Yellow Fever virus compared to areas with lower precipitation. In addition, more densely-populated countries could have increased transmission compared to less densely-populated countries. Also, the ability to successfully treat viral transmission may be tied to economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP). To test how all of these factors affect the number of yellow fever cases in different countries in South America and Africa, I obtained data from the Global Forest Watch, Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization. I used the R Programming Environment and qGIS for statistical and spatial analysis of the data. My results show that some countries, such as Argentina and Uganda, display some of the highest levels of deforestation and precipitation along with some of the highest Yellow Fever virus cases. This finding may be due to populations of mosquitoes that are either displaced or moved closer to human populations. The effects of population density and GDP will be discussed. Future studies could focus on various other types of viruses and how public health in different communities is affected as a result