Eco-epidemiology of tick- and rodent-borne pathogens in boreal forests
Infectious diseases are amongst the ten major causes of human mortality
worldwide, 60% of them being animal-borne. Variations of abiotic and biotic
conditions are likely to modify the transmission of parasites and pathogens
within reservoir species, and, as a consequence, alter the zoonotic risk for
human. My thesis aims at elucidating the dynamics and mechanisms of the
maintenance of ticks, tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) and the Puumala hantavirus
(PUUV) in the reservoir host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus, BV). In Northern
Europe, tick-borne diseases are growing in importance to human because of the
latitudinal expansion of the tick Ixodes ricinus. Field monitoring revealed that I.
ricinus was the only species found in the vegetation in Central Finland. The
abundance of immature I. ricinus in nature was positively associated with the
BV abundance. The highest risk periods for tick bites on humans were May–
June and September. Ixodes ricinus was positively associated with open water
coverage and human density, which might offer suitable moisture conditions
and anthropogenic modifications favouring the species. The infection of BV
with the zoonotic B. burgdorferi s.l. was associated with the abundance of I.
ricinus at the site, indicating that this tick species was required for the
transmission and persistence of this pathogen. An experiment revealed, for the
first time, that B. afzelii can modify the behaviour and the breeding success of its
host, and these effects are both sex- and size-specific and density-dependent.
Space-state modelling of longitudinal field data revealed that PUUV infection
likelihood was the lowest in BV previously infested with vectors in comparison
to Anaplasma phagocytophilum infected BV, or individuals without any previous
infections. Altogether, this study shows how seasonality, co-infecting
pathogens and host population density influence the risk of tick-borne
pathogens and the zoonotic risk in Central Finland.
...


Publisher
University of JyväskyläISBN
978-951-39-7206-6ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1456-9701Keywords
Borrelia burgdorferi s.l Myodes glareolus Puumala hantavirus disease ecology eco-epidemiology reservoir tick-borne pathogens puutiaiset punkit taudinaiheuttajat Borrelia-bakteerit Puumala-virus leviäminen isäntäeläimet myyrät metsämyyrä jyrsijät metsäekosysteemit populaatioekologia boreaalinen vyöhyke ekologia epidemiologia hantavirukset zoonoosit
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