The Impacts of Climate Change on Ticks and Tick-Borne Disease Risk

Abstract

Ticks exist on all continents and carry more zoonotic pathogens than any other type of vector. Ticks spend most of their lives in the external environment away from the host and are thus expected to be affected by changes in climate. Most empirical and theoretical studies demonstrate or predict range shifts or increases in ticks and tick-borne diseases, but there can be a lot of heterogeneity in such predictions. Tick-borne disease systems are complex, and determining whether changes are due to climate change or other drivers can be difficult. Modeling studies can help tease apart and understand the roles of different drivers of change. Predictive models can also be invaluable in projecting changes according to different climate change scenarios. However, validating these models remains challenging, and estimating uncertainty in predictions is essential. Another focus for future research should be assessing the resilience of ticks and tick-borne pathogens to climate change.

Serology for Borrelia spp. in Northwest Italy: A Climate-Matched 10-Year Trend

“…Globally, the incidence/prevalence of tick-borne diseases is rising, mostly due to increased interactions between pathogens, vectors and hosts. Some of the most important factors that account for the increasing incidence include urbanization and human population growth, behavioural changes such as human encroachment into natural environments, climate and habitat changes, and increased wildlife populations in urban and peri-urban areas [26,27].…”

“…The increase in the reported incidence of Lyme disease in Europe could be the result of a variety of factors, including an increase in the abundance of the vector, more abundant wildlife tick hosts, greater awareness and better diagnostics, and increased exposure of people [22]. Therefore, it is not straightforward to attribute changes in the distribution and abundance of ticks and tick-borne diseases to climate changes, as changes in vertebrate host populations, habitat and human exposure to ticks can all be related to the climate [26]. Despite that, more favourable conditions for tick propagation have been highlighted in this and other works [4,8,9,13,16,22,31].…”

Climate change impacts on ticks and tick-borne infections

“…If climate change differentially affects the phenology of different tick stages, altering the degree of overlap in activity periods of larvae and nymphs, the consequences for many tick-borne pathogens will be profound (Gilbert 2021). This is especially true for tick-borne pathogens that induce shortterm (nonsystemic) infections in their vertebrate host (e.g.…”

Climate change related (re)emergingdiseases in cattle in the Netherlands : the possible use of natural (plant) substances in an integrated approach

“…Infection with diseases transmitted by ticks could hence be more likely in the future (Gilbert et al, 2021). 2021) conducted a study on small mammals as important maintenance hosts for ectoparasites and found that ticks were more prevalent than fleas or mites in the small mammals in urban and forest areas they examined for their studies in Germany.…”