Do birds affect Lyme disease risk? Range expansion of the vector‐borne pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Jory Brinkerhoff ◽  
Corrine M Folsom-O'Keefe ◽  
Kimberly Tsao ◽  
Maria A Diuk-Wasser
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Range Expansion ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Lyme Disease Risk

Lyme Disease Risk of Exposure to Blacklegged Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) Infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) in Pittsburgh Regional Parks

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison E Simmons ◽  
Anna B Manges ◽  
Tashi Bharathan ◽  
Shannon L Tepe ◽  
Sara E McBride ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Risk Of Exposure ◽  
Lyme Disease Risk

Abstract Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness and sixth most commonly reported notifiable infectious disease in the United States. The majority of cases occur in the Northeast and upper-Midwest, and the number and geographic distribution of cases is steadily increasing. The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) is the principal vector of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto) in eastern North America. Although Lyme disease risk has been studied in residential and recreational settings across rural to urban landscapes including metropolitan areas, risk within U.S. cities has not been adequately evaluated despite the presence of natural and undeveloped public parkland where visitors could be exposed to B. burgdorferi-infected I. scapularis. We studied the occurrence of I. scapularis and infection prevalence of B. burgdorferi in four insular regional parks within the city of Pittsburgh to assess Lyme disease risk of exposure to infected adults and nymphs. We found that the density of I. scapularis adults (1.16 ± 0.21 ticks/100 m2) and nymphs (3.42 ± 0.45 ticks/100 m2), infection prevalence of B. burgdorferi in adults (51.9%) and nymphs (19.3%), and density of infected adults (0.60 ticks/100 m2) and nymphs (0.66 ticks/100 m2) are as high in these city parks as nonurban residential and recreational areas in the highly endemic coastal Northeast. These findings emphasize the need to reconsider, assess, and manage Lyme disease risk in greenspaces within cities, especially in high Lyme disease incidence states.

scholarly journals Modelling the seasonality of Lyme disease risk and the potential impacts of a warming climate within the heterogeneous landscapes of Scotland

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (116) ◽  
pp. 20160140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sen Li ◽  
Lucy Gilbert ◽  
Paula A. Harrison ◽  
Mark D. A. Rounsevell
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Risk Indicator ◽  
Risk Area ◽  
Heterogeneous Landscapes ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Lyme Disease Risk

Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The abundance of infected nymphal ticks is commonly used as a Lyme disease risk indicator. Temperature can influence the dynamics of disease by shaping the activity and development of ticks and, hence, altering the contact pattern and pathogen transmission between ticks and their host animals. A mechanistic, agent-based model was developed to study the temperature-driven seasonality of Ixodes ricinus ticks and transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato across mainland Scotland. Based on 12-year averaged temperature surfaces, our model predicted that Lyme disease risk currently peaks in autumn, approximately six weeks after the temperature peak. The risk was predicted to decrease with increasing altitude. Increases in temperature were predicted to prolong the duration of the tick questing season and expand the risk area to higher altitudinal and latitudinal regions. These predicted impacts on tick population ecology may be expected to lead to greater tick–host contacts under climate warming and, hence, greater risks of pathogen transmission. The model is useful in improving understanding of the spatial determinants and system mechanisms of Lyme disease pathogen transmission and its sensitivity to temperature changes.

Diversifying forest communities may change Lyme disease risk: extra dimension to the dilution effect in Europe

Parasitology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 143 (10) ◽  
pp. 1310-1319 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANNE C. RUYTS ◽  
EVY AMPOORTER ◽  
ELENA C. COIPAN ◽  
LANDER BAETEN ◽  
DIETER HEYLEN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Dilution Effect ◽  
Ixodid Ticks ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Host Diversity ◽  
Pine Stands

SUMMARYLyme disease is caused by bacteria of theBorrelia burgdorferigenospecies complex and transmitted by Ixodid ticks. In North America only one pathogenic genospecies occurs, in Europe there are several. According to the dilution effect hypothesis (DEH), formulated in North America, nymphal infection prevalence (NIP) decreases with increasing host diversity since host species differ in transmission potential. We analysedBorreliainfection in nymphs from 94 forest stands in Belgium, which are part of a diversification gradient with a supposedly related increasing host diversity: from pine stands without to oak stands with a shrub layer. We expected changing tree species and forest structure to increase host diversity and decrease NIP. In contrast with the DEH, NIP did not differ between different forest types. Genospecies diversity however, and presumably also host diversity, was higher in oak than in pine stands. Infected nymphs tended to harbourBorrelia afzeliiinfection more often in pine stands whileBorrelia gariniiandBorrelia burgdorferiss. infection appeared to be more prevalent in oak stands. This has important health consequences, since the latter two cause more severe disease manifestations. We show that the DEH must be nuanced for Europe and should consider the response of multiple pathogenic genospecies.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Disulfiram Drug Combinations and Identification of Other More Effective Combinations against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

Antibiotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Alvarez-Manzo ◽  
Yumin Zhang ◽  
Wanliang Shi ◽  
Ying Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Stationary Phase ◽  
Drug Exposure ◽  
Drug Combinations ◽  
Persistent Symptoms ◽  
Exposure Experiment ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Treatment Alternatives ◽  
Possible Cause

Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in USA, and 10–20% of patients will develop persistent symptoms despite treatment (“post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome”). B. burgdorferi persisters, which are not killed by the current antibiotics for Lyme disease, are considered one possible cause. Disulfiram has shown to be active against B. burgdorferi, but its activity against persistent forms is not well characterized. We assessed disulfiram as single drug and in combinations against stationary-phase B. burgdorferi culture enriched with persisters. Disulfiram was not very effective in the drug exposure experiment (survival rate (SR) 46.3%) or in combinations. Clarithromycin (SR 41.1%) and nitroxoline (SR 37.5%) were equally effective when compared to the current Lyme antibiotic cefuroxime (SR 36.8%) and more active than disulfiram. Cefuroxime + clarithromycin (SR 25.9%) and cefuroxime + nitroxoline (SR 27.5%) were significantly more active than cefuroxime + disulfiram (SR 41.7%). When replacing disulfiram with clarithromycin or nitroxoline in three-drug combinations, bacterial viability decreased significantly and subculture studies showed that combinations with these two drugs (cefuroxime + clarithromycin/nitroxoline + furazolidone/nitazoxanide) inhibited the regrowth, while disulfiram combinations did not (cefuroxime + disulfiram + furazolidone/nitazoxanide). Thus, clarithromycin and nitroxoline should be further assessed to determine their role as potential treatment alternatives in the future.

scholarly journals Comparing the Climatic and Landscape Risk Factors for Lyme Disease Cases in the Upper Midwest and Northeast United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1548
Author(s):  
Yuting Dong ◽  
Zheng Huang ◽  
Yong Zhang ◽  
Yingying X.G. Wang ◽  
Yang La
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Ixodes Scapularis ◽  
Upper Midwest ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Landscape Factors ◽  
Lyme Disease Risk

Lyme disease, recognized as one of the most important vector-borne diseases worldwide, has been increasing in incidence and spatial extend in United States. In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis. Currently, many studies have been conducted to identify factors influencing Lyme disease risk in the Northeast, however, relatively few studies focused on the Upper Midwest. In this study, we explored and compared the climatic and landscape factors that shape the spatial patterns of human Lyme cases in these two regions, using the generalized linear mixed models. Our results showed that climatic variables generally had opposite correlations with Lyme disease risk, while landscape factors usually had similar effects in these two regions. High precipitation and low temperature were correlated with high Lyme disease risk in the Upper Midwest, while with low Lyme disease risk in the Northeast. In both regions, size and fragmentation related factors of residential area showed positive correlations with Lyme disease risk. Deciduous forests and evergreen forests had opposite effects on Lyme disease risk, but the effects were consistent between two regions. In general, this study provides new insight into understanding the differences of risk factors of human Lyme disease risk in these two regions.

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