01783nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001653001900042653002500061653003900086653001000125653001700135100001600152700001600168700001600184700001400200700001400214700001700228700001000245245013200255300001100387490000800398520110900406022001401515       2016                            d10aSocial science10aQualitative Research10aNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs)10aGhana10aBuruli ulcer1 aTschakert P1 aRicciardi V1 aSmithwick E1 aMachado M1 aFerring D1 aHausermann H1 aBug L00aSituated knowledge of pathogenic landscapes in Ghana: Understanding the emergence of Buruli ulcer through qualitative analysis.  a160-710 v1503 a<p>Successfully addressing neglected tropical diseases requires nuanced understandings of pathogenic landscapes that incorporate situated, contexualized community knowledge. In the case of Buruli ulcer (BU), the role of social science is vital to investigate complex human-environment interactions and navigate different ways of knowing. We analyze a set of qualitative data from our interdisciplinary project on BU in Ghana, drawing from participatory mapping, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and open-ended survey questions to explore how people in endemic and non-endemic areas see themselves embedded in changing environmental and social landscapes. We pay particular attention to landscape disturbance through logging and small-scale alluvial gold mining. The results from our participatory research underscore the holistic nature of BU emergence in landscapes, encapsulated in partial and incomplete local descriptions, the relevance of collective learning to distill complexity, and the potential of rich qualitative data to inform quantitative landscape-disease models.</p>
  a1873-5347