Climate change and tick-borne encephalitis in the Greater Alpine region.

2021 ◽  
pp. 354-359
Author(s):  
Franz Rubel

Abstract Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral tick-borne disease. The distribution of human TBE cases ranges from the French departments bordering Germany through Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Kazakhstan to the Far East of Russia and China. In this expert opinion, TBE is described in the greater area of the European Alps, denoted as the Greater Alpine Region (GAR). It also includes reported tick-borne encephalitis cases and evidence for climate change impacts on tick density and distribution as well as the prevalence and intensity of TBE.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Pesce ◽  
Larisa Tarasova ◽  
Ralf Merz ◽  
Jost von Hardenberg ◽  
Alberto Viglione

<p>In the European Alps, climate change has determined changes in extreme precipitation and river flood events, which impact the population living downstream with increasing frequency. The objectives of our work are:</p><ol><li>to determine what types of precipitation extremes and river flood events occur in the Alpine Region, based on their generating mechanisms (e.g., frontal convergence storms, convective storms, snow-melt floods, rain-on-snow floods, short and long rain floods, flash floods, ...)</li> <li>to determine the spatial and seasonal distribution of these event types (e.g., their dependence on elevation, geographical location, catchment size, ...) and how precipitation extremes relate to the floods they produce (e.g., the role of snow precipitation and accumulation)</li> <li>to determine whether the event type distribution is changing and will change in the future (e.g., due to climate change).  </li> </ol><p>To these aims, we will compile and analyze historical time series of precipitation and discharge in order to identify events in terms of intensity, duration, and spatial extent. We will use the ETCCDI indices as a measure of the precipitation distribution and hydrograph separation techniques for flow events, following the methodology of Tarasova et al. (2018). We will then characterize each event in terms of generation mechanisms. Furthermore, we will analyze the frequency and magnitude of the different event types in different locations and time of the year and determine whether clusters exist by applying automatic techniques (e.g. K-means clustering algorithm). Finally, we will correlate statistics of precipitation and flood event types with climate indices related to large scale atmospheric circulation, such as Atmospheric Blocking, NAO, etc. (Ciccarelli et al. 2008). Results will be then used for the projection of future storm and flood scenarios.</p><p>We will first apply the methodology in Piedmont by comparing the station-based time series with the NWIOI dataset (ARPA Piemonte) and reanalysis datasets by ECMWF (ERA5, ERA5-Land). We will use a rainfall-runoff model at the daily and sub-daily timescale, through calibration at the regional scale, useful for the simulation of soil saturation and snowpack. We expect to find a statistical correlation between the different datasets, but with changing statistical features over space and time within the single datasets. We aim to provide a detailed picture of the different types of events according to the spatial location and season. The results will be useful, from a scientific perspective, to better understand storm and flood regimes and their change in the Alpine Region, and, from a practical perspective, to better mitigate the risk associated with the occurrence of extreme events.      </p><p>Ciccarelli, N., Von Hardenberg, J., Provenzale, A., Ronchi, C., Vargiu, A., & Pelosini, R. (2008). Climate variability in north-western Italy during the second half of the 20th century. Global and Planetary Change, 63(2-3), 185-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2008.03.006</p><p>Tarasova, L., Basso, S., Zink, M., & Merz, R. (2018). Exploring controls on rainfall-runoff events: 1. Time series-based event separation and temporal dynamics of event runoff response in Germany. Water Resources Research, 54, 7711–7732. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR022587</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Cannone ◽  
Guglielmina Diolaiuti ◽  
Mauro Guglielmin ◽  
Claudio Smiraglia

2020 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 118449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieratti Elisa ◽  
Paletto Alessandro ◽  
Atena Andrea ◽  
Bernardi Silvia ◽  
Palm Mathis ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 824-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia M. Pukhovskaya ◽  
Olga V. Morozova ◽  
Nelya P. Vysochina ◽  
Nadejda B. Belozerova ◽  
Svetlana V. Bakhmetyeva ◽  
...  

Biologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Nuttall

AbstractEvidence climate change is impacting ticks and tick-borne infections is generally lacking. This is primarily because, in most parts of the world, there are no long-term and replicated data on the distribution and abundance of tick populations, and the prevalence and incidence of tick-borne infections. Notable exceptions exist, as in Canada where the northeastern advance of Ixodes scapularis and Lyme borreliosis in the USA prompted the establishment of tick and associated disease surveillance. As a result, the past 30 years recorded the encroachment and spread of I. scapularis and Lyme borreliosis across much of Canada concomitant with a 2-3 °C increase in land surface temperature. A similar northerly advance of I. ricinus [and associated Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)] has been recorded in northern Europe together with expansion of this species’ range to higher altitudes in Central Europe and the Greater Alpine Region, again concomitant with rising temperatures. Changes in tick species composition are being recorded, with increases in more heat tolerant phenotypes (such as Rhipicephalus microplus in Africa), while exotic species, such as Haemaphysalis longicornis and Hyalomma marginatum, are becoming established in the USA and Southern Europe, respectively. In the next 50 years these trends are likely to continue, whereas, at the southern extremities of temperate species’ ranges, diseases such as Lyme borreliosis and TBE may become less prevalent. Where socioeconomic conditions link livestock with livelihoods, as in Pakistan and much of Africa, a One Health approach is needed to tackling ticks and tick-borne infections under the increasing challenges presented by climate change.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Gray ◽  
H. Dautel ◽  
A. Estrada-Peña ◽  
O. Kahl ◽  
E. Lindgren

Zoonotic tick-borne diseases are an increasing health burden in Europe and there is speculation that this is partly due to climate change affecting vector biology and disease transmission. Data on the vector tickIxodes ricinussuggest that an extension of its northern and altitude range has been accompanied by an increased prevalence of tick-borne encephalitis. Climate change may also be partly responsible for the change in distribution ofDermacentor reticulatus. Increased winter activity of  I. ricinusis probably due to warmer winters and a retrospective study suggests that hotter summers will change the dynamics and pattern of seasonal activity, resulting in the bulk of the tick population becoming active in the latter part of the year. Climate suitability models predict that eight important tick species are likely to establish more northern permanent populations in a climate-warming scenario. However, the complex ecology and epidemiology of such tick-borne diseases as Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis make it difficult to implicate climate change as the main cause of their increasing prevalence. Climate change models are required that take account of the dynamic biological processes involved in vector abundance and pathogen transmission in order to predict future tick-borne disease scenarios.


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