Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases 2322-1984 12 1 2018 03 18 41 66 EN Abdolali Golpayegani Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam, Iran AND National Institute of Environmental Health Research, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran Ali Reza Moslem School of Medicine, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran Amir Ahmad Akhavan Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND National Institute of Environmental Health Research, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran Azam Zeydabadi Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam, Iran Amir Hossein Mahvi Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND National Institute of Health Research, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran AND Center for Solid Waste Research, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Ahmad Allah-Abadi Leishmaniasis Research Center, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran 2018 02 26 2018 02 26 Background: Leishmaniasis is a re-emerging serious international public health problem, and both visceral and cu­taneous types of leishmaniasis became important endemic diseases in Iran. In this study, the relationships between environmental factors (vegetation and elevation) and the prevalence of diseases have been investigated. Methods: All international and national online databases were searched by terms such as leishmaniasis, incidence, prevalence and other related words attributed to Iran and published until first quarter of 2015. The developed data­base in Excel, later imported to the ArcMap for spatial analyst and mapping. Afterwards, the software was used for modeling the relationship between the prevalence/incidence and environmental variables (vegetation and elevation) by both linear and nonlinear regression. Results: After mapping the prevalence data from 144 studies, considering non-parametric ANOVA, the tendency of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis to presence in high elevation and high vegetation was more than Anthroponotic and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. While linear regression showed weaker results for modeling, however, additive nonparametric regression analysis suggested that 10km buffers for elevation, and 10 as well as 50km buffers for veg­etation could contribute in better fitness in modeling of these variables. Conclusion: The detailed maps for distribution of disease concluded. The nonlinear regression is a reliable predictor of the relationship between environmental factors and disease incidence, although more and wide researchers are needed to confirm it. https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/817 https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/download/817/372