1
|
Nepveu-Traversy ME, Fausther-Bovendo H, Babuadze G(G. Human Tick-Borne Diseases and Advances in Anti-Tick Vaccine Approaches: A Comprehensive Review. Vaccines (Basel) 2024; 12:141. [PMID: 38400125 PMCID: PMC10891567 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12020141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
This comprehensive review explores the field of anti-tick vaccines, addressing their significance in combating tick-borne diseases of public health concern. The main objectives are to provide a brief epidemiology of diseases affecting humans and a thorough understanding of tick biology, traditional tick control methods, the development and mechanisms of anti-tick vaccines, their efficacy in field applications, associated challenges, and future prospects. Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) pose a significant and escalating threat to global health and the livestock industries due to the widespread distribution of ticks and the multitude of pathogens they transmit. Traditional tick control methods, such as acaricides and repellents, have limitations, including environmental concerns and the emergence of tick resistance. Anti-tick vaccines offer a promising alternative by targeting specific tick proteins crucial for feeding and pathogen transmission. Developing vaccines with antigens based on these essential proteins is likely to disrupt these processes. Indeed, anti-tick vaccines have shown efficacy in laboratory and field trials successfully implemented in livestock, reducing the prevalence of TBDs. However, some challenges still remain, including vaccine efficacy on different hosts, polymorphisms in ticks of the same species, and the economic considerations of adopting large-scale vaccine strategies. Emerging technologies and approaches hold promise for improving anti-tick vaccine development and expanding their impact on public health and agriculture.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hugues Fausther-Bovendo
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 75550, USA;
| | - George (Giorgi) Babuadze
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 75550, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Baz-Flores S, Herraiz C, Peralbo-Moreno A, Barral M, Arnal MC, Balseiro A, Cano-Terriza D, Castro-Scholten S, Cevidanes A, Conde-Lizarralde A, Cuadrado-Matías R, Escribano F, de Luco DF, Fidalgo LE, Hermoso-de Mendoza J, Fandos P, Gómez-Guillamón F, Granados JE, Jiménez-Martín D, López-Olvera JR, Martín I, Martínez R, Mentaberre G, García-Bocanegra I, Ruiz-Fons F. Mapping the risk of exposure to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in the Iberian Peninsula using Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) as a model. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2024; 15:102281. [PMID: 37995393 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen that can cause a lethal haemorrhagic disease in humans. Although the virus appears to be endemically established in the Iberian Peninsula, CCHF is an emerging disease in Spain. Clinical signs of CCHFV infection are mainly manifested in humans, but the virus replicates in several animal species. Understanding the determinants of CCHFV exposure risk from animal models is essential to predicting high-risk exposure hotspots for public health action. With this objective in mind, we designed a cross-sectional study of Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Spain and Portugal. The study analysed 5,291 sera collected between 2006 and 2022 from 90 wild boar populations with a specific double-antigen ELISA to estimate CCHFV serum prevalence and identify the main determinants of exposure probability. To do so, we statistically modelled exposure risk with host- and environment-related predictors and spatially projected it at a 10 × 10 km square resolution at the scale of the Iberian Peninsula to map foci of infection risk. Fifty-seven (63.3 %) of the 90 populations had at least one seropositive animal, with seroprevalence ranging from 0.0 to 88.2 %. Anti-CCHFV antibodies were found in 1,026 of 5,291 wild boar (19.4 %; 95 % confidence interval: 18.3-20.5 %), with highest exposure rates in southwestern Iberia. The most relevant predictors of virus exposure risk were wild boar abundance, local rainfall regime, shrub cover, winter air temperature and soil temperature variation. The spatial projection of the best-fit model identified high-risk foci as occurring in most of western and southwestern Iberia and identified recently confirmed risk foci in eastern Spain. The results of the study demonstrate that serological surveys of CCHFV vector hosts are a powerful, robust and highly informative tool for public health authorities to take action to prevent human cases of CCHF in enzootic and emergency settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Baz-Flores
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Cesar Herraiz
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Alfonso Peralbo-Moreno
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Marta Barral
- Department of Animal Health, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Derio, Spain
| | - Mari Cruz Arnal
- Departamento de Patología Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Ana Balseiro
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain; Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (CSIC-Universidad de León), Finca Marzanas, Grulleros, 24346 León, Spain
| | - David Cano-Terriza
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Sabrina Castro-Scholten
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Aitor Cevidanes
- Department of Animal Health, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Derio, Spain
| | - Alazne Conde-Lizarralde
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Raúl Cuadrado-Matías
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Fernando Escribano
- Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre "El Valle", Ctra. Subida del Valle 62, 30150, La Alberca, Murcia, Spain
| | - Daniel Fernández de Luco
- Departamento de Patología Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Luis Eusebio Fidalgo
- Departamento de Anatomía, Producción Animal y Ciencias Clínicas Veterinarias (APAyCCV) Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain
| | - Javier Hermoso-de Mendoza
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
| | | | - Félix Gómez-Guillamón
- Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Desarrollo Sostenible, Junta de Andalucía, Málaga, Spain
| | - José E Granados
- Parque Nacional y Parque Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada km 7, 18071 Pinos Genil, Granada, Spain
| | - Débora Jiménez-Martín
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Jorge R López-Olvera
- Wildlife Ecology & Health (WE&H) research group and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Inés Martín
- Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03202 Elche (Alicante), Spain
| | - Remigio Martínez
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain; Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
| | - Gregorio Mentaberre
- Wildlife Ecology and Health Group (WE&H), Departament de Ciència Animal, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Agrària (ETSEA), Universitat de Lleida (UdL), Lleida, Spain
| | - Ignacio García-Bocanegra
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, 14004 Córdoba, Spain; CIBERINFEC, ISCIII - CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III
| | - Francisco Ruiz-Fons
- Health & Biotechnology (SaBio) group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain; CIBERINFEC, ISCIII - CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III,.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Peralbo-Moreno A, Baz-Flores S, Cuadrado-Matías R, Barroso P, Triguero-Ocaña R, Jiménez-Ruiz S, Herraiz C, Ruiz-Rodríguez C, Acevedo P, Ruiz-Fons F. Environmental factors driving fine-scale ixodid tick abundance patterns. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 853:158633. [PMID: 36084775 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Tick abundance is an essential demographic parameter to infer tick-borne pathogen transmission risks. Spatiotemporal patterns of tick abundance are heterogeneous, so its determinants at small spatial scales need to be understood to reduce their negative effects on hosts. Current knowledge of these determinants is scarce, especially in Mediterranean environments, limiting the possibilities for designing efficient tick control strategies. With the goal of unravelling tick abundance determinants and informing new tick management strategies, we estimated tick burdens on 1965 wild ungulates in Doñana National Park, Spain, annually between 2010 and 2020. Under the hypothesis of a predominant host influence on tick abundance, we modelled the burdens of Rhipicephalus annulatus, Hyalomma lusitanicum, and Ixodes ricinus with relevant predictors grouped into four factors: i) environment; ii) host population; iii) host individual; and iv) land-use. Generalized linear mixed models with a zero-inflated negative binomial distribution were built. Additionally, we analysed the differential contribution to abundance of each factor by deviance partitioning. We finally estimated the similarity in the environmental space of tick species by analysing their niche overlap with the environmental principal component analysis method. Our work hypothesis was confirmed for R. annulatus and H. lusitanicum, but we found that tick abundance at a fine spatial scale is jointly driven by multiple drivers, including all four factors considered in this study. This result points out that understanding the demography of ticks is a complex multifactorial issue, even at small spatial scales. We found no niche differences between the three tick species at the study spatial scale, thus showing similar host and environmental dependencies. Overall results identify that host aggregation areas displaying environmentally favourable traits for ticks are relevant tick and vector-borne pathogen transmission hotspots. Our findings will facilitate the design of new strategies to reduce the negative effects of tick parasitism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alfonso Peralbo-Moreno
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Sara Baz-Flores
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Raúl Cuadrado-Matías
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Patricia Barroso
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Roxana Triguero-Ocaña
- VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Saúl Jiménez-Ruiz
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain; Animal Health and Zoonoses Research Group (GISAZ), Department of Animal Health, University of Cordoba, Córdoba, Spain
| | - Cesar Herraiz
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Carmen Ruiz-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Pelayo Acevedo
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Francisco Ruiz-Fons
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Wondim MA, Czupryna P, Pancewicz S, Kruszewska E, Groth M, Moniuszko-Malinowska A. Epidemiological Trends of Trans-Boundary Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Europe, 2000-2019. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11060704. [PMID: 35745558 PMCID: PMC9228375 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11060704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Tick-borne encephalitis is a neuroinfection widely distributed in the Euro-Asia region. Primarily, the virus is transmitted by the bite of infected ticks. From 2000-2019, the total number of confirmed cases in Europe reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control was 51,519. The number of cases decreased in 2014 and 2015; however, since 2015, a growing number of cases have been observed, with the involvement of countries in which TBE has not been previously reported. The determinant factors for the spread of TBE are host population size, weather conditions, movement of hosts, and local regulations on the socioeconomic dynamics of the local and travelling people around the foci areas. The mean incidence rate of tick-borne encephalitis from 2000-2019 in Europe was 3.27, while the age-adjusted mean incidence rate was 2.19 per 100,000 population size. This review used several articles and data sources from the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control.
Collapse
|
5
|
Forero-Becerra E, Acosta A, Benavides E, Martínez-Díaz HC, Hidalgo M. Amblyomma mixtum free-living stages: Inferences on dry and wet seasons use, preference, and niche width in an agroecosystem (Yopal, Casanare, Colombia). PLoS One 2022; 17:e0245109. [PMID: 35385470 PMCID: PMC8986011 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The formulation of effective control strategies for any pest species generally involves the study of habitat use and preference and niche width in anthropogenically transformed natural landscapes. We evaluated whether the use, habitat preference, and niche range of the Amblyomma mixtum tick changed between stages, habitats, and seasonality (dry-wet seasons 2019) on a farm in Yopal (Casanare, Colombia). The presence and relative abundance of free-living larvae, nymphs, and adults was quantified in four different habitats according to the type of vegetation cover (Riparian Forest, Cocoa Crop, King Grass Crop, and Star Grass Paddock). Habitat availability was estimated, environmental variables were analyzed, and various indices of habitat use and preference, and niche width were calculated. A. mixtum's habitat use and preference, and niche width changed between stages, habitat types, and time of the year. The total abundance of A. mixtum was an order of magnitude greater in the dry season than the wet season. In the dry season, all stages used all habitats, while A. mixtum adults used all the habitats in both seasons. In the dry season, nymphs and larvae preferred three out of the four habitats, while adults preferred the King Grass Crop. In the wet season, nymphs and larvae preferred two habitats, whereas the adults preferred the King Grass Crop. The value of the niche width index was high for larvae, nymphs, and adults in the dry season, while it was high only for adults in the wet season. Thus, A. mixtum's vast environmental tolerance and niche breadth allows the species to use and colonize changing habitats (unstable or temporary) with fluctuating environmental conditions (e.g., King Grass Crop), potentially keeping a stable population over time and making it an extremely resistant species. However, the wet flooding season in Yopal may exceed A. mixtum's stages' tolerances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elkin Forero-Becerra
- Faculty of Sciences, Departament of Microbiology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
| | - Alberto Acosta
- Faculty of Sciences, Departament de Biology, UNESIS (Unidad de Ecología y Sistemática), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
| | - Efraín Benavides
- Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Grupo de Investigación Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Heidy-C. Martínez-Díaz
- Faculty of Sciences, Laboratorio de Bacteriología Especial, Departament of Microbiology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
| | - Marylin Hidalgo
- Faculty of Sciences, Laboratorio de Bacteriología Especial, Departament of Microbiology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
El-Sayed A, Kamel M. Climatic changes and their role in emergence and re-emergence of diseases. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2020; 27:22336-22352. [PMID: 32347486 PMCID: PMC7187803 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08896-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Global warming and the associated climate changes are predictable. They are enhanced by burning of fossil fuels and the emission of huge amounts of CO2 gas which resulted in greenhouse effect. It is expected that the average global temperature will increase with 2-5 °C in the next decades. As a result, the earth will exhibit marked climatic changes characterized by extremer weather events in the coming decades, such as the increase in temperature, rainfall, summertime, droughts, more frequent and stronger tornadoes and hurricanes. Epidemiological disease cycle includes host, pathogen and in certain cases intermediate host/vector. A complex mixture of various environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and humidity) determines the suitable habitat/ecological niche for every vector host. The availability of suitable vectors is a precondition for the emergence of vector-borne pathogens. Climate changes and global warming will have catastrophic effects on human, animal and environmental ecosystems. Pathogens, especially neglected tropical disease agents, are expected to emerge and re-emerge in several countries including Europe and North America. The lives of millions of people especially in developing countries will be at risk in direct and indirect ways. In the present review, the role of climate changes in the spread of infectious agents and their vectors is discussed. Examples of the major emerging viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases are also summarized.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amr El-Sayed
- Department of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Mohamed Kamel
- Department of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Abstract
Ticks are the most important vectors of human pathogens, leading to increased public health burdens worldwide. Tick-borne pathogens include viruses (e.g. tick-borne encephalitis and Powassan); bacteria, such as the causative agents of Lyme disease, spotted fever rickettsiosis and human anaplasmosis; and malaria-like protozoan parasites causing babesiosis. Tick-borne diseases are emerging due to the geographical expansion of their tick vectors, especially in the northern hemisphere. Two examples of this phenomenon are Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum, which have expanded their ranges in the USA in recent decades and are responsible for the continuous emergence of Lyme disease and human ehrlichiosis, respectively. This phenomenon is also occurring worldwide and is reflected by the increasing number of tick-borne encephalitis and haemorrhagic fever cases in Europe and Asia. In this review, we provide a concise synopsis of the most medically important tick-borne pathogen worldwide, with a particular emphasis on emerging public health threats.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilia Rochlin
- Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, 180 Jones Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| | - Alvaro Toledo
- Department of Entomology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
- Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, 180 Jones Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Malmsten J, Dalin AM, Moutailler S, Devillers E, Gondard M, Felton A. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Pathogens in Eurasian Moose (Alces alces alces). Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2019; 19:207-211. [DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Malmsten
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- Division of Reproduction, Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anne-Marie Dalin
- Division of Reproduction, Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sara Moutailler
- UMR BIPAR, Animal Health Laboratory, ANSES, INRA, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, Université Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Elodie Devillers
- UMR BIPAR, Animal Health Laboratory, ANSES, INRA, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, Université Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Mathilde Gondard
- UMR BIPAR, Animal Health Laboratory, ANSES, INRA, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, Université Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Annika Felton
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Center, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Uspensky IV. Blood-sucking ticks (Acarina, Ixodoidea) as an essential component of the urban environment. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.1134/s0013873817070107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
|
10
|
Garcia-Martí I, Zurita-Milla R, van Vliet AJH, Takken W. Modelling and mapping tick dynamics using volunteered observations. Int J Health Geogr 2017; 16:41. [PMID: 29137670 PMCID: PMC5686904 DOI: 10.1186/s12942-017-0114-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2017] [Accepted: 11/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tick populations and tick-borne infections have steadily increased since the mid-1990s posing an ever-increasing risk to public health. Yet, modelling tick dynamics remains challenging because of the lack of data and knowledge on this complex phenomenon. Here we present an approach to model and map tick dynamics using volunteered data. This approach is illustrated with 9 years of data collected by a group of trained volunteers who sampled active questing ticks (AQT) on a monthly basis and for 15 locations in the Netherlands. We aimed at finding the main environmental drivers of AQT at multiple time-scales, and to devise daily AQT maps at the national level for 2014. METHOD Tick dynamics is a complex ecological problem driven by biotic (e.g. pathogens, wildlife, humans) and abiotic (e.g. weather, landscape) factors. We enriched the volunteered AQT collection with six types of weather variables (aggregated at 11 temporal scales), three types of satellite-derived vegetation indices, land cover, and mast years. Then, we applied a feature engineering process to derive a set of 101 features to characterize the conditions that yielded a particular count of AQT on a date and location. To devise models predicting the AQT, we use a time-aware Random Forest regression method, which is suitable to find non-linear relationships in complex ecological problems, and provides an estimation of the most important features to predict the AQT. RESULTS We trained a model capable of fitting AQT with reduced statistical metrics. The multi-temporal study on the feature importance indicates that variables linked to water levels in the atmosphere (i.e. evapotranspiration, relative humidity) consistently showed a higher explanatory power than previous works using temperature. As a product of this study, we are able of mapping daily tick dynamics at the national level. CONCLUSIONS This study paves the way towards the design of new applications in the fields of environmental research, nature management, and public health. It also illustrates how Citizen Science initiatives produce geospatial data collections that can support scientific analysis, thus enabling the monitoring of complex environmental phenomena.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Garcia-Martí
- Department of Geo-Information Processing (GIP), Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Raúl Zurita-Milla
- Department of Geo-Information Processing (GIP), Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Arnold J. H. van Vliet
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Willem Takken
- Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Prevalence of ticks and tick-borne pathogens: Babesia and Borrelia species in ticks infesting cats of Great Britain. Vet Parasitol 2017; 244:129-135. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.07.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2017] [Revised: 07/22/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
12
|
Oliva Chávez AS, Shaw DK, Munderloh UG, Pedra JHF. Tick Humoral Responses: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:223. [PMID: 28261180 PMCID: PMC5306392 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Ticks transmit a variety of human pathogens, including Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease. Multiple pathogens that are transmitted simultaneously, termed “coinfections,” are of increasing importance and can affect disease outcome in a host. Arthropod immunity is central to pathogen acquisition and transmission by the tick. Pattern recognition receptors recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns and induce humoral responses through the Toll and Immune Deficiency (IMD) pathways. Comparative analyses between insects and ticks reveal that while the Toll pathway is conserved, the IMD network exhibits a high degree of variability. This indicates that major differences in humoral immunity exist between insects and ticks. While many variables can affect immunity, one of the major forces that shape immune outcomes is the microbiota. In light of this, we discuss how the presence of commensal bacteria, symbionts and/or coinfections can lead to altered immune responses in the tick that impact pathogen persistence and subsequent transmission. By investigating non-insect arthropod immunity, we will not only better comprehend tick biology, but also unravel the intricate effects that pathogen coinfections have on vector competence and tick-borne disease transmission.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adela S Oliva Chávez
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
| | - Dana K Shaw
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
| | | | - Joao H F Pedra
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore MD, USA
| |
Collapse
|