Europe-Wide Meta-Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Prevalence in Questing Ixodes ricinus Ticks

Strnad, Martin; Hönig, Václav; Růžek, Daniel; Grubhoffer, Libor; Rego, Ryan O. M.

doi:10.1128/aem.00609-17

Cited by 159 publications

(179 citation statements)

References 123 publications

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“…The fact that prevalence increased with latitude is in accordance with Scandinavian countries such as Finland and Sweden showing relatively high prevalence when compared with other European countries, as reported in previous studies on Lyme borreliosis incidence and infection loads of questing ticks (Hubalek, ; Rauter & Hartung, ; Wilhelmsson et al, ). Meta‐analyses for Europe revealed an overall prevalence of 12.3%–13.7% in questing ticks, higher in central Europe and Sweden (Rauter & Hartung, ; Strnad, Hönig, Růžek, Grubhoffer, & Rego, ), but with a significant increase with longitude, rather than latitude, as in our study (Rauter & Hartung, ). Nonetheless, it is also known that Lyme borreliosis presents a focal pattern of distribution, determined by the heterogeneous spatial distribution of vector ticks, and also that the north‐south gradient has a greater influence on disease incidence at its distributional range limits (Hubalek, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Host dispersal shapes the population structure of a tick‐borne bacterial pathogen

Norte

Margos²,

Becker

et al. 2020

Molecular Ecology

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Birds are hosts for several zoonotic pathogens. Because of their high mobility, especially of longdistance migrants, birds can disperse these pathogens, affecting their distribution and phylogeography. We focused on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, which includes the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, as an example for tick‐borne pathogens, to address the role of birds as propagation hosts of zoonotic agents at a large geographical scale. We collected ticks from passerine birds in 11 European countries. B. burgdorferi s.l. prevalence in Ixodes spp. was 37% and increased with latitude. The fieldfare Turdus pilaris and the blackbird T. merula carried ticks with the highest Borrelia prevalence (92 and 58%, respectively), whereas robin Erithacus rubecula ticks were the least infected (3.8%). Borrelia garinii was the most prevalent genospecies (61%), followed by B. valaisiana (24%), B. afzelii (9%), B. turdi (5%) and B. lusitaniae (0.5%). A novel Borrelia genospecies “Candidatus Borrelia aligera” was also detected. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis of B. garinii isolates together with the global collection of B. garinii genotypes obtained from the Borrelia MLST public database revealed that: (a) there was little overlap among genotypes from different continents, (b) there was no geographical structuring within Europe, and (c) there was no evident association pattern detectable among B. garinii genotypes from ticks feeding on birds, questing ticks or human isolates. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that the population structure and evolutionary biology of tick‐borne pathogens are shaped by their host associations and the movement patterns of these hosts.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Host dispersal shapes the population structure of a tick‐borne bacterial pathogen

Norte

Margos²,

Becker

et al. 2020

Molecular Ecology

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“…group (37% for nymphs and 49% for adults). The prevalence therein was even higher than that recently reported for Finland, the neighbouring countries of Sweden and Estonia and the rest of Europe in general (Geller et al 2013;Wilhelmsson et al 2013a;Sormunen et al 2016b;Laaksonen et al 2017;Strnad et al 2017). In comparison to the situation that prevailed 4-17 years earlier, we found the tick in the grassy edges of maintained city parks and other urban sites with central locations in the city.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 76%

High tick abundance and diversity of tick-borne pathogens in a Finnish city

et al. 2019

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The sheep tick Ixodes ricinus is the primary vector for various zoonotic diseases, including Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), in Europe. Because both abundance of ticks and prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in these organisms have increased in many locations and under different environments, we designed a study to survey the occurrence of ticks and pathogens in an urban area, namely, the city of Turku, in SW Finland. In summer 2017, we collected >700 ticks, primarily from city parks, suburban forest patches, and recreational areas. Comprehensive subsets of ticks were screened for presence of all common tick-borne pathogens. Half of the ticks carried at least one pathogen. The most common pathogens detected were the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, i.e., bacteria belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group. Their prevalence was 37% in nymphal and 47% in adult ticks, which are high in comparison with surveys conducted elsewhere in northern Europe. Similarly, Rickettsia spp. (primarily R. helvetica) were also detected in a relatively high proportion of the samples (11% of both nymphs and adults). The TBE virus was not found in a relatively small subsample, but we detected (albeit at a low prevalence of 0-6% of nymphs and adults) the bacterial pathogens Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and the protozoan Babesia spp., which are also known agents of zoonotic diseases. The relatively high abundance of ticks and high diversity and overall prevalence of tick-borne pathogens suggest a lively and dense presence of mammalian and avian tick hosts in the city. Our results indicate a higher risk of encountering tick-borne pathogens in urbanized areas of southern Finland than previously known. Moreover, the possibility of acquiring tick-borne diseases from urban environments likely exists throughout most of Europe, and it should be acknowledged by health care professionals.

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“…Even though adults are usually more likely to be infected with B. burgdorferi s.l . (Rauter & Hartung, ; Strnad, Hönig, Růžek, Grubhoffer, & Rego, ), the small size of nymphs means that they can remain unnoticed and stay attached for longer (Falco, Fish, & Piesman, ; Hügli et al, ), increasing the risk of infection to the host (Hofhuis et al, ; Sood et al, ; Tijsse‐Klasen et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality and anatomical location of human tick bites in the United Kingdom

Cull

Pietzsch

Gillingham

et al. 2019

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Tick bites on humans can occur in a variety of habitats and may result in the transmission of tick-borne pathogens, such as the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis (LB), Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. As the risk of transmission of this pathogen to the host increases with the duration of tick feeding, the recognition and removal of ticks as soon as possible following attachment is important for reducing the risk of infection.Performing a thorough body examination for ticks following potential exposure is recommended by tick awareness campaigns. Knowledge of where on the body feeding ticks are frequently found, and at which times of year peak tick exposure occurs, provides important information for public health messaging and may aid those bitten by ticks to engage more effectively with tick-checking behaviour. This paper summarizes human tick bites in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2013-2018 reported to Public Health England's passive Tick Surveillance Scheme and further examines the anatomical location and seasonality of bites from the most commonly encountered tick and LB vector Ixodes ricinus. A total of 1,328 tick records from humans were received of which 93% were I. ricinus. Humans were most commonly bitten by I. ricinus nymphs (70% bites). Tick bites were recorded on all parts of the body, but there were significant differences in their anatomical location on adults and children. Most tick bites on adults occurred on the legs (50%), whereas on children tick bites were mostly on the head and neck (43%). Bites from I. ricinus were recorded throughout the year but were most numerous during May to August. This study adds to the body of research on the seasonality and anatomical location of human tick bites in temperate Europe and highlights the importance of data collected through passive surveillance in addition to research and epidemiological studies. K E Y W O R D S Ixodes ricinus, public health, tick awarenessThis article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. | 113CULL et aL.

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Europe-Wide Meta-Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Prevalence in Questing Ixodes ricinus Ticks

Cited by 159 publications

References 123 publications

Host dispersal shapes the population structure of a tick‐borne bacterial pathogen

Host dispersal shapes the population structure of a tick‐borne bacterial pathogen

High tick abundance and diversity of tick-borne pathogens in a Finnish city

Seasonality and anatomical location of human tick bites in the United Kingdom

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