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Incidence of Vector- Borne Diseases
Vector-borne diseases are those infections that are transmitted between human or from humans to animals by vectors such as arthropod species (e.g., mosquitoes, ticks, black flies) (WHO, 2016). Mosquitoes are the most widely known disease vectors, and they that cause malaria, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, West Nile fever, Japanese encephalitis, and lymphatic filariasis (Who, 2014). The link between vector-borne diseases and agricultural production imposes burdens on the population that affect productivity as well as animal and human health.
How to operationalize the metric
Method of data collection and data needed to compute the method:
Although there are studies that have assessed burden of disease using Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY[1]) (Murray and Lopez, 1996) as a metric to examine the economic burden of the disease for the population, in this metric we focus on the incidence of the disease. This Measurement of incidence of the disease among a given population may be costly due to need to test individuals using human samples (blood or stool). For this metric, we recommend using available data from health centers in the location where the project is taking place. The researcher should identify the health center that is close to the areas where of data collection. These centers may have data on the reported cases and can provide a general understanding on health status of the various populations within the area.
Unit of analysis:
The unit of analysis of incidences of a disease are mainly provided at cases per 1,000 of population.
Limitations regarding estimating and interpreting:
This measure would be limited by the lack of health centers close to a study area. Another limitation may be that the data collected in that area may not be available to be shared to the public. If this occurs, the project researchers may look at alternative options, such as collecting data over the life of the project (if the net benefits of such information to the project significantly outweigh the costs).
9The DALYs are beyond the scope of this assessment