Enhanced threat of tick‐borne infections within cities? Assessing public health risks due to ticks in urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland

Sormunen, Jani J.; Kulha, Niko; Klemola, Tero; Mäkelä, Satu; Vesilahti, Ella‐Maria; Vesterinen, Eero J.

doi:10.1111/zph.12767

Cited by 28 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In the current study, we have con rmed the occurrence of three Babesia species, out two of them (B. microti and B. venatorum), are considered to be pathogenic for humans. Nonetheless, the Babesia prevalence in I. ricinus removed from humans is rather low (1.3%) and similar to other European studies on engorged as well as questing I. ricinus ticks [9,35,65,78].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…afzelii genospecies/ species occurrence. Similar year-to-year variations were shown in I. ricinus ticks removed from humans in Germany [37,38] and in questing ticks collected in Europe [9,22,60]. It is well-known that the distribution and prevalence of Borrelia spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…The Ixodes ricinus species is associated with deciduous and mixed forests, but the expansion of I. ricinus observed over the past decades allowed to extend the range of its occurrence to northern areas of the continent and areas located at a higher altitude [9]. Across Europe, I. ricinus typically make up 90-100% of all ticks removed from humans and nymphs are the most commonly detected life stage [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-Term Study of Borrelia and Babesia Species Distribution in Ixodes Ricinus and Dermacentor Recticulatus Ticks Removed From Humans in Poland, 2016-2019

Welc-Falęciak

Bednarska

Hamera

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Monitoring changes in the prevalence of different Borrelia genospecies/ species in ticks might be an important indicator of risk assessment and of differences in pathogenicity in humans. Furthermore, the evaluation of pathogens in feeding ticks represents the risk of human exposure better than studies on questing ticks. The objective of our study was to assess the prevalence and distribution of Borrelia and Babesia species in ticks removed from humans, in a larger sample collected for several months during four years of studies. We confirmed high Borrelia prevalence, including B. miyamotoi, in ticks removed from humans as well as the shift in Borrelia genospecies/ species frequency of occurrence during the four-year study. Despite the fact that Babesia prevalence was relatively low, the majority of tested isolates are considered to be pathogenic for humans. The results of our study have also shown that Borrelia and Babesia coinfections in ticks are more common in Borrelia-infected ticks. Even if the overall risk of developing Lyme borreliosis after a tick bite in Europe is rather low, the knowledge of prevalence and distribution of Borrelia and Babesia species in ticks might be an important indicator of both tick-borne disease risk and pathogenicity assessment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-Term Study of Borrelia and Babesia Species Distribution in Ixodes Ricinus and Dermacentor Recticulatus Ticks Removed From Humans in Poland, 2016-2019

Welc-Falęciak

Bednarska

Hamera

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Although these demands could be met by a precise study design, the obtained density index might still significantly deviate from the 'absolute' density of host-seeking ticks because of the low sampling efficiency of any single cloth dragging over a uniquely selected strip of vegetation and because, depending on the ambient humidity, questing ticks must occasionally descend from vegetation into the moister conditions of the litter and soil (Needham and Teel 1991;Hermann and Gern 2015). When sampling ticks and estimating their abundance in an area, repetitions to increase the precision of the density index are often performed on adjacent sampling transects (e.g., Mays et al 2016;Kjaer et al 2019;Sormunen et al 2020b), instead of repeating the dragging on the very same transect, with the latter being the method used here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One out of ten: low sampling efficiency of cloth dragging challenges abundance estimates of questing ticks

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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Hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) act as important vectors of zoonotic pathogens. For instance, Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes pose a severe health risk as aetiological agents of Lyme borreliosis. Commonly, to study the abundance of questing (host-seeking) ticks, a 1 m2 piece of cloth is dragged over vegetation for a determined distance. Here, we designed a tick-sampling study to estimate the sampling efficiency of this standard method. We established 10 m dragging transects in a hemiboreal mixed forest patch in SW Finland for a 5-day monitoring period. Five of the transects were cloth-dragged 3× a day, whereas another five transects were dragged 6× a day in a manner that after each morning, midday and afternoon dragging, a second dragging was conducted on the same transect immediately. Captured Ixodes ricinus ticks were subsequently analysed for tick-borne pathogens. The initial population size of nymphal ticks on a transect was approximated by the accumulated nymph catch from the dragging sessions. The sampling efficiency of the cloth dragging was low, as a single dragging in a previously untouched vegetation strip always caught less than 12% (mean 6%) of the estimated population of active nymphs that were assumed to be questing during the study. Clear results were not found for daily activity rhythm, as ticks were caught in all daily dragging sessions. Approximately every third nymph and every second adult carried a pathogen, but nothing indicated that the occurrence of a pathogen affected the likelihood of the tick being caught by cloth dragging. Our results suggest that only a minority of active ticks can be caught by a single cloth dragging. The abundance estimates in many tick investigations might thus be downward biased.

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“…Even though ticks are highly adaptable and able to colonize various habitats, they are usually recognized (mainly among the public) as parasites typically found in rural or forest areas. This notion is contradicted by several recent studies which showed that ticks are also frequently observed in urban and peri-urban habitats [5][6][7][8]. Typical urban areas inhabited by ticks include recreational areas, parks and cemeteries [9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Role of Zoo-Housed Animals in the Ecology of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens—A Review

et al. 2021

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Ticks are ubiquitous ectoparasites, feeding on representatives of all classes of terrestrial vertebrates and transmitting numerous pathogens of high human and veterinary medical importance. Exotic animals kept in zoological gardens, ranches, wildlife parks or farms may play an important role in the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), as they may serve as hosts for local tick species. Moreover, they can develop diseases of varying severity after being infected by TBPs, and theoretically, can thus serve as reservoirs, thereby further propagating TBPs in local ecosystems. The definite role of these animals in the tick–host-pathogen network remains poorly investigated. This review provides a summary of the information currently available regarding ticks and TBPs in connection to captive local and exotic wildlife, with an emphasis on zoo-housed species.

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Enhanced threat of tick‐borne infections within cities? Assessing public health risks due to ticks in urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 28 publications

References 70 publications

Long-Term Study of Borrelia and Babesia Species Distribution in Ixodes Ricinus and Dermacentor Recticulatus Ticks Removed From Humans in Poland, 2016-2019

Long-Term Study of Borrelia and Babesia Species Distribution in Ixodes Ricinus and Dermacentor Recticulatus Ticks Removed From Humans in Poland, 2016-2019

One out of ten: low sampling efficiency of cloth dragging challenges abundance estimates of questing ticks

Role of Zoo-Housed Animals in the Ecology of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens—A Review

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