Tick magnets: The occupational risk of tick‐borne disease exposure in forestry workers in New York

Abstract

Background Outdoor workers, such as forestry workers, are at an increased risk for contracting tick‐borne diseases due to their prolonged time spent in tick habitats. Although well studied in Europe, no studies have been conducted with forestry workers in the Northeastern United States since 1990s. Methods Full‐time forestry workers and two comparison groups (volunteer firefighter/first responders and indoor/healthcare workers) within New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were recruited for this cross‐sectional seroprevalence study. Blood draws were conducted to test for antibodies to Lyme, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis. Surveys were administered to determine personal risk factors and protective behaviors. Results Between November 2020 and May 2021, 256 (105 forestry, 101 firefighter/first responder, and 50 indoor/healthcare) workers participated in this study. Forestry workers had a probability of testing positive nearly twice as high for any tick‐borne disease (14%) compared to firefighter/first responders (8%) and to indoor workers (6%); however, this difference was not statistically significant ( P = .140). Forestry workers were more likely to find embedded ticks on themselves ( f = 33.26, P < .0001 vs both comparison groups) and to have been previously diagnosed with a tick‐borne disease ( P = .001 vs firefighter/first responders, P = .090 vs indoor/healthcare workers). Conclusions This pilot study suggests a higher proportion of tick‐borne disease risk among forestry workers compared to firefighters/first responders and indoor/healthcare workers with lesser exposure. A larger study to confirm or refute this pilot data could help optimize mitigation/prevention strategies.

Spatiotemporal trends and covariates of Lyme borreliosis incidence in Poland, 2010–2019

“…Next to forests, other green areas, such as parks, gardens, and lawns, may also provide suitable microhabitats for ticks and their hosts and are linked to LB transmission, as revealed by our analysis and in line with previous studies 37,38 . People living near forests and other types of green areas or engaging in recreational or professional activities, such as foresters, outdoor workers, gardeners, and athletes, face an elevated risk of tick bites and Borreliella spirochetes transmission 19,20 . We further found that LB incidence increases with increasing minimum monthly temperature (Fig.…”

Targeted Tick-Borne Disease Recognition: Assessing Risk for Improved Public Health

“…Occupations involving outdoor work have consistently shown a higher susceptibility to TBDs in various studies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Among these, agricultural workers have been identified as a group that is particularly vulnerable to TBDs [13,17,19,22,23].…”

“…Among these, agricultural workers have been identified as a group that is particularly vulnerable to TBDs [13,17,19,22,23]. Similarly, forestry workers also exhibit a significantly elevated risk of TBDs [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], and occupational cavers are not exempt from this heightened risk [24].…”

“…Having knowledge about ticks significantly predicts whether individuals take measures to prevent TBDs after spending time outdoors [12,18,39]. For instance, those with a bachelor's degree or higher education are notably more likely to provide accurate answers related to ticks compared to individuals with a high school education or lower [12].…”

Rural health and rural industries: Opportunities for partnership and action

“…28 Addressing hazards in rural industries has been a focus of NIOSH and its partners over the past 5 decades, resulting in measurable improvements in worker health. [14][15][16] Additionally, rural industries often involve outdoor work, increasing exposure to extreme weather, sun exposure, [14][15][16]29 vectorborne diseases, 30 and animal interactions. [31][32][33] Land-based OGE workers can be exposed to similar environmental conditions as agricultural workers, among whom heat is a well-recognized hazard.…”