Knowledge, attitude, and practices on human myiasis with spatial modeling of human risk of exposure to Oestrus ovis among shepherds/ people in Ilam province, southwest of Iran

Background: Myiasis is the infestation of humans or other animals with the larvae of flies that occurs in the tropical and subtropical regions, worldwide. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice of the population at risk about myiasis and to infer potential risk areas of human myiasis due to the environmental suitability for Oestrus ovis in the Ilam province of Iran. Methods: This study was conducted from April to June 2020 among the myiasis-infested shepherds in Ilam province. The data were collected by a questionnaire. Maximum Entropy (Maxent) niche modeling was used to predict the environmental suitability for O. ovis. Results: The level of awareness of the people of Ilam province on myiasis was generally good, while a small percentage of them had poor information about this disease (1.62%). Mean Diurnal range and isothermality revealed the highest and lowest share on the MaxEnt model, respectively. The elevation variable had the most permutation in the model for predicting the environmental suitability for O. ovis. The best ecological niches for this fly were in the northern parts of the study area. Conclusion: It can be concluded that due to background knowledge of the involved people in exposure to oral myiasis agent, O. ovis, conducting some preventive measures based on improving their knowledge, attitude, and practices could be useful for reducing the risk of the disease in the area. On the other hand, the suitable areas for the establishment of O. ovis which has been clarified with the model could be used for focusing on the preventive measures in the area.