scholarly journals Trends in tick population dynamics and pathogen transmission in emerging tick-borne pathogens in Europe: an introduction

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nienke Hartemink ◽  
Willem Takken
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Tick Population

scholarly journals Understanding the Evolutionary Ecology of host–pathogen Interactions Provides Insights into the Outcomes of Insect Pest Biocontrol

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
David J. Páez ◽  
Arietta E. Fleming-Davies
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Life History ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Insect Pest ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Single Strain ◽  
Classical Biocontrol ◽  
Life History Tradeoffs ◽  
Pathogen Strains

The use of viral pathogens to control the population size of pest insects has produced both successful and unsuccessful outcomes. Here, we investigate whether those biocontrol successes and failures can be explained by key ecological and evolutionary processes between hosts and pathogens. Specifically, we examine how heterogeneity in pathogen transmission, ecological and evolutionary tradeoffs, and pathogen diversity affect insect population density and thus successful control. We first review the existing literature and then use numerical simulations of mathematical models to further explore these processes. Our results show that the control of insect densities using viruses depends strongly on the heterogeneity of virus transmission among insects. Overall, increased heterogeneity of transmission reduces the effect of viruses on insect densities and increases the long-term stability of insect populations. Lower equilibrium insect densities occur when transmission is heritable and when there is a tradeoff between mean transmission and insect fecundity compared to when the heterogeneity of transmission arises from non-genetic sources. Thus, the heterogeneity of transmission is a key parameter that regulates the long-term population dynamics of insects and their pathogens. We also show that both heterogeneity of transmission and life-history tradeoffs modulate characteristics of population dynamics such as the frequency and intensity of “boom–bust" population cycles. Furthermore, we show that because of life-history tradeoffs affecting the transmission rate, the use of multiple pathogen strains is more effective than the use of a single strain to control insect densities only when the pathogen strains differ considerably in their transmission characteristics. By quantifying the effects of ecology and evolution on population densities, we are able to offer recommendations to assess the long-term effects of classical biocontrol.

scholarly journals LYMESIM 2.0: An Updated Simulation of Blacklegged Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) Population Dynamics and Enzootic Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Gaff ◽  
Rebecca J Eisen ◽  
Lars Eisen ◽  
Robyn Nadolny ◽  
Jenna Bjork ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Tick Control ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Tick Population

Abstract Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States, and the number of cases reported each year continues to rise. The complex nature of the relationships between the pathogen (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto), the tick vector (Ixodes scapularis Say), multiple vertebrate hosts, and numerous environmental factors creates challenges for understanding and predicting tick population and pathogen transmission dynamics. LYMESIM is a mechanistic model developed in the late 1990s to simulate the life-history of I. scapularis and transmission dynamics of B. burgdorferi s.s. Here we present LYMESIM 2.0, a modernized version of LYMESIM, that includes several modifications to enhance the biological realism of the model and to generate outcomes that are more readily measured under field conditions. The model is tested for three geographically distinct locations in New York, Minnesota, and Virginia. Model-simulated timing and densities of questing nymphs, infected nymphs, and abundances of nymphs feeding on hosts are consistent with field observations and reports for these locations. Sensitivity analysis highlighted the importance of temperature in host finding for the density of nymphs, the importance of transmission from small mammals to ticks on the density of infected nymphs, and temperature-related tick survival for both density of nymphs and infected nymphs. A key challenge for accurate modeling of these metrics is the need for regionally representative inputs for host populations and their fluctuations. LYMESIM 2.0 is a useful public health tool that downstream can be used to evaluate tick control interventions and can be adapted for other ticks and pathogens.

Trends and oscillations in tick population dynamics

1995 ◽  
Vol 175 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara E. Awerbuch ◽  
Sonja Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Tick Population

Eradication and control of livestock ticks: biological, economic and social perspectives

Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (8) ◽  
pp. 945-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN R. WALKER
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
Density Dependent Mortality ◽  
Livestock Breeding ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Control ◽  
Dependent Mortality

SUMMARYComparisons of successful and failed attempts to eradicate livestock ticks reveal that the social context of farming and management of the campaigns have greater influence than techniques of treatment. The biology of ticks is considered principally where it has contributed to control of ticks as practiced on farms. The timing of treatments by life cycle and season can be exploited to reduce numbers of treatments per year. Pastures can be managed to starve and desiccate vulnerable larvae questing on vegetation. Immunity to ticks acquired by hosts can be enhanced by livestock breeding. The aggregated distribution of ticks on hosts with poor immunity can be used to select animals for removal from the herd. Models of tick population dynamics required for predicting outcomes of control methods need better understanding of drivers of distribution, aggregation, stability, and density-dependent mortality. Changing social circumstances, especially of land-use, has an influence on exposure to tick-borne pathogens that can be exploited for disease control.

scholarly journals Delay-dependent attractivity on a tick population dynamics model incorporating two distinctive time-varying delays

2021 ◽  
Vol 477 (2251) ◽  
pp. 20210302
Author(s):  
Chuangxia Huang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Jinde Cao
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Global Attractivity ◽  
Positive Equilibrium ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Dynamics Model ◽  
Population Dynamics Model ◽  
All Solutions ◽  
Positive Equilibrium Point ◽  
Delay Dependent

In this paper, we aim to investigate the influence of delay on the global attractivity of a tick population dynamics model incorporating two distinctive time-varying delays. By exploiting some differential inequality techniques and with the aid of the fluctuation lemma, we first prove the persistence and positiveness for all solutions of the addressed equation. Consequently, a delay-dependent criterion is derived to assure the global attractivity of the positive equilibrium point. And lastly, some numerical simulations are presented to verify that the obtained results improve and complement some existing ones.

First Records of Hyalomma aegyptium (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae) from the Russian Spur-Thighed Tortoise, Testudo graeca nikolskii, with an Analysis of Tick Population Dynamics

1998 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 1303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard G. Robbins ◽  
William B. Karesh ◽  
Paul P. Calle ◽  
Olga A. Leontyeva ◽  
Solomon L. Pereshkolnik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Testudo Graeca

scholarly journals The Phenology of Ticks and the Effects of Long-Term Prescribed Burning on Tick Population Dynamics in Southwestern Georgia and Northwestern Florida

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e112174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth R. Gleim ◽  
L. Mike Conner ◽  
Roy D. Berghaus ◽  
Michael L. Levin ◽  
Galina E. Zemtsova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Tick Population

scholarly journals Mechanistic movement models reveal ecological drivers of tick-borne pathogen spread

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (181) ◽  
pp. 20210134
Author(s):  
Olivia Tardy ◽  
Catherine Bouchard ◽  
Eric Chamberland ◽  
André Fortin ◽  
Patricia Lamirande ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Tick Population ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Spread Rate ◽  
Infected Tick ◽  
Tick Density ◽  
Heterogeneous Landscapes ◽  
Tick Infection ◽  
Tick Borne Disease ◽  
Host Movement

Identifying ecological drivers of tick-borne pathogen spread has great value for tick-borne disease management. However, theoretical investigations into the consequences of host movement behaviour on pathogen spread dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes remain limited because spatially explicit epidemiological models that incorporate more realistic mechanisms governing host movement are rare. We built a mechanistic movement model to investigate how the interplay between multiple ecological drivers affects the risk of tick-borne pathogen spread across heterogeneous landscapes. We used the model to generate simulations of tick dispersal by migratory birds and terrestrial hosts across theoretical landscapes varying in resource aggregation, and we performed a sensitivity analysis to explore the impacts of different parameters on the infected tick spread rate, tick infection prevalence and infected tick density. Our findings highlight the importance of host movement and tick population dynamics in explaining the infected tick spread rate into new regions. Tick infection prevalence and infected tick density were driven by predictors related to the infection process and tick population dynamics, respectively. Our results suggest that control strategies aiming to reduce tick burden on tick reproduction hosts and encounter rate between immature ticks and pathogen amplification hosts will be most effective at reducing tick-borne disease risk.

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