Environmental suitability of Yersinia pestis and the spatial dynamics of plague in the Qinghai Lake region, China

Plague, a highly infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis, has killed millions of people in history and is still active the natural foci world nowadays. Understanding spatiotemporal patterns plague outbreaks critically important, as it may help facilitate prevention control for potential future outbreaks. This study's objective was to estimate effect topography, vegetation, climate, other environmental factors on Y. pestis ecological niche. A maximum entropy algorithm spatially modelled occurrence data from 2004-2018 variables evaluate contribution distribution pestis. Our results found that average minimum temperature September (-8 °C +5 °C) sheep population density (250 per km2) were influential characterising The rim Qinghai Lake showed more favourable conditions presence than areas within study area. Identifying various will assist any modelling efforts. suitability map identifies hotspots public health officials resource allocation their quest abate