Effects of Climate Change on Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Europe

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

10.1079/9781789249637.0050 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 354-359

Author(s):

Franz Rubel

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Far East ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Alpine Region ◽

European Alps ◽

Far East Of Russia ◽

The Caucasus ◽

Tick Density ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Tick Borne Disease

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.

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The transstadial persistence of tick-borne encephalitis virus in Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in natural conditions

Acta Parasitologica ◽

10.1515/ap-2016-0028 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Grzegorz Karbowiak ◽

Beata Biernat ◽

Joanna Werszko ◽

Leszek Rychlik

Keyword(s):

Natural Infection ◽

Dermacentor Reticulatus ◽

Tick Population ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Natural Conditions ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Tbe Virus ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽

First Time ◽

Białowieża Primeval Forest

AbstractThere are a number of reports regarding natural infection of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks with TBE virus; however, the transmission mode of TBE virus in this tick population has not been investigated. This study was conducted in Białowieża Primeval Forest, east Poland. Forty fully engorged nymphs of D. reticulatus were sampled from root voles (Microtus oeconomus). Ticks were kept until molting. All ticks were screened for the presence of TBE virus by nested RT-PCR. Three adult ticks were positive for infection with TBE virus. The present study for the first time demonstrates the possibility of transstadial mode of TBEV transmission in D. reticulatus ticks.

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Tick-borne infections in Central Europe.

10.1079/9781789249637.0062 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 430-437

Author(s):

Maria Kazimirova

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Central Europe ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Tick Survival ◽

Tick Borne Disease ◽

Change Impact ◽

Geographic Expansion ◽

Disease Foci

Abstract This expert opinion discusses how global warming and climate change impact (i) geographic expansion of indigenous tick species; (ii) tick survival and abundance in certain areas including urban parks and gardens; (iii) seasonal tick questing activities, increasing the number of infected hosts and the probability of pathogen transmission; (iv) emergence of new tick-borne disease foci; and (v) changing epidemiological patterns and increasing incidence of tick-borne diseases in endemic foci.

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Monitoring of Hard Ticks at Urban Recreational Sites in the City of Zagreb from 2016 to 2018

Infektološki glasnik ◽

10.37797/ig.39.2.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 33-39

Author(s):

Marko Vucelja ◽

Tatjana Vilibić-Čavlek ◽

Josip Margaletić ◽

Vanja Peleš ◽

Karin Juričić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Disease Incidence ◽

Tick Population ◽

Hard Tick ◽

Nymphal Stage ◽

Hard Ticks ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Natural Foci ◽

Tick Borne Disease ◽

The City

As tick-borne disease incidence and distribution is increasing worldwide, there is a true need for better understanding of the distributional ecology of their vectors. The aim of this study was to determine the diversity of hard ticks fauna (Acari: Ixodidae) and their seasonal dynamics in different habitats at three urban recreational sites in Croatia’s capital, the City of Zagreb, known as the natural foci of Lyme borreliosis and tick borne encephalitis. Within a three-year period (2016 - 2018), the only species detected was Ixodes ricinus Linnaeus, 1758. Using flag dragging method 506 ticks were sampled; 273 (54%) in their nymphal stage, 166 (33%) as larvae and 64 (13%) as adults. The highest abundance of ticks was recorded at forest habitat. Seasonal activity showed their peaks at midspring and midsummer. Continuous monitoring of hard tick population in urban areas should and could become a standard method of tick-borne diseases prevention.

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Climate impacts on Dermacentor reticulatus tick population dynamics and range.

10.1079/9781789249637.0024 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 166-170

Author(s):

Zbigniew Zając

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Population Dynamics ◽

Expert Opinion ◽

Dermacentor Reticulatus ◽

Climate Impacts ◽

Tick Population ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

The Impact

Abstract This expert opinion describes the occurrence of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in Europe and discusses the impact of climate change on the population dynamics and range of D. reticulatus populations.

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Potential Impact of the Current and Future Climate on the Yield, Quality, and Climate Suitability for Tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze]: A Systematic Review

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040619 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 619

Author(s):

Sadeeka Layomi Jayasinghe ◽

Lalit Kumar

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Future Climate ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Tea Quality ◽

Climate Suitability ◽

Yield Quality ◽

The Impact

Even though climate change is having an increasing impact on tea plants, systematic reviews on the impact of climate change on the tea system are scarce. This review was undertaken to assess and synthesize the knowledge around the impacts of current and future climate on yield, quality, and climate suitability for tea; the historical roots and the most influential papers on the aforementioned topics; and the key adaptation and mitigation strategies that are practiced in tea fields. Our findings show that a large number of studies have focused on the impact of climate change on tea quality, followed by tea yield, while a smaller number of studies have concentrated on climate suitability. Three pronounced reference peaks found in Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RYPS) represent the most significant papers associated with the yield, quality, and climate suitability for tea. Tea yield increases with elevated CO2 levels, but this increment could be substantially affected by an increasing temperature. Other climatic factors are uneven rainfall, extreme weather events, and climate-driven abiotic stressors. An altered climate presents both advantages and disadvantages for tea quality due to the uncertainty of the concentrations of biochemicals in tea leaves. Climate change creates losses, gains, and shifts of climate suitability for tea habitats. Further studies are required in order to fill the knowledge gaps identified through the present review, such as an investigation of the interaction between the tea plant and multiple environmental factors that mimic real-world conditions and then studies on its impact on the tea system, as well as the design of ensemble modeling approaches to predict climate suitability for tea. Finally, we outline multifaceted and evidence-based adaptive and mitigation strategies that can be implemented in tea fields to alleviate the undesirable impacts of climate change.

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Quantity and Quality of Aquaculture Enrichments Influence Disease Epidemics and Provide Ecological Alternatives to Antibiotics

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10030335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 335

Author(s):

Anssi Karvonen ◽

Ville Räihä ◽

Ines Klemme ◽

Roghaieh Ashrafi ◽

Pekka Hyvärinen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disease Transmission ◽

Bacterial Infections ◽

Environmental Heterogeneity ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Central Component ◽

Flavobacterium Columnare ◽

Disease Epidemics ◽

The Impact ◽

Environmental Microbes

Environmental heterogeneity is a central component influencing the virulence and epidemiology of infectious diseases. The number and distribution of susceptible hosts determines disease transmission opportunities, shifting the epidemiological threshold between the spread and fadeout of a disease. Similarly, the presence and diversity of other hosts, pathogens and environmental microbes, may inhibit or accelerate an epidemic. This has important applied implications in farming environments, where high numbers of susceptible hosts are maintained in conditions of minimal environmental heterogeneity. We investigated how the quantity and quality of aquaculture enrichments (few vs. many stones; clean stones vs. stones conditioned in lake water) influenced the severity of infection of a pathogenic bacterium, Flavobacterium columnare, in salmonid fishes. We found that the conditioning of the stones significantly increased host survival in rearing tanks with few stones. A similar effect of increased host survival was also observed with a higher number of unconditioned stones. These results suggest that a simple increase in the heterogeneity of aquaculture environment can significantly reduce the impact of diseases, most likely operating through a reduction in pathogen transmission (stone quantity) and the formation of beneficial microbial communities (stone quality). This supports enriched rearing as an ecological and economic way to prevent bacterial infections with the minimal use of antimicrobials.

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The Distribution and economic Importance of Ixodes ricinus (L.) in Wales and the Welsh Border Counties with special Reference to N.W. Cardiganshire

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300027760 ◽

1951 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 469-485 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

G. Owen Evans

Keyword(s):

Ixodes Ricinus ◽

Tick Infestation ◽

Dermacentor Reticulatus ◽

Economic Importance ◽

Relative Area ◽

Grazing Land ◽

Nardus Stricta ◽

Tick Borne Disease ◽

The Common ◽

Cattle And Sheep

Ixodes ricinus is the common tick infesting farmstock in Wales. Dermacentor reticulatus is recorded on cattle and sheep on two farms in N. Cardiganshire.I. ricinus is widely distributed in the four major grassland zones of N.W. Cardiganshire. The most extensive areas of tick infestation are found on the marginal and hill farms. In lowland areas, except on extensive stretches of marshland, infested pastures are confined to isolated tracts of badly managed or poorly drained land. Infested grazings are invariably “rough” and contain one of the following plants as dominant: Festuca spp., Agrostis spp., Molinia caerulea, Nardus stricta, Pteris aquilina or Juncus spp. The degree of infestation of cattle depends on the relative area of the available grazing land colonised by the tick. Continuous stocking of infested pastures results in heavy infestations and vice versa.Bovine piroplasmosis is the major tick-borne disease in N.W. Cardiganshire and predominates in the lowland districts. Outbreaks of the disease on marginal and hill farms are generally infrequent. Reasons are suggested for this phenomenon. Tick pyaemia is confined to lambs on hill grazings. The incidence of this disease is low.The distribution of the tick in Wales and the border counties of Hereford and Salop shows a general relationship to areas of rough grazing. The tick is widespread in the western counties and is almost absent in the border counties. Radnorshire and Breconshire are interesting in that they have few infested farms in relation to the extensive nature of the “rough” grazing. A survey has also been conducted of the incidence of bovine piroplasmosis in Wales.

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Seasonal activity of Dermacentor reticulatus ticks in the era of progressive climate change in eastern Poland

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-99929-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zbigniew Zając ◽

Joanna Kulisz ◽

Aneta Woźniak ◽

Katarzyna Bartosik ◽

Adil Khan

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Local Population ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Dermacentor Reticulatus ◽

Seasonal Activity ◽

Saturation Deficit ◽

Annual Basis ◽

Questing Ticks ◽

The Mean

AbstractDermacentor reticulatus ticks are one of the most important vectors and reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens in Europe. Changes in the abundance and range of this species have been observed in the last decade and these ticks are collected in areas previously considered tick-free. This may be influenced by progressive climate change. Eastern Poland is an area where the local population of D. reticulatus is one of the most numerous among those described so far. At the same time, the region is characterized by a significant increase in the mean air temperature in recent years (by 1.81 °C in 2020) and a decrease in the average number of days with snow cover (by 64 days in 2020) and in the number of days with frost (by 20 days in 2020) on an annual basis compared to the long-term average. The aim of our research was to investigate the rhythms of seasonal activity and the population size of D. reticulatus in the era of progressive climate change. To this end, questing ticks were collected in 2017–2020. Next, the weather conditions in the years of observation were analyzed and compared with multi-year data covering 30 years preceding the study. The research results show that, in eastern Poland, there is a stable population of D. reticulatus with the peak of activity in spring or autumn (up to a maximum of 359 individuals within 30 min of collection) depending on the year of observation. Ticks of this species may also be active in winter months. The activity of D. reticulatus is influenced by a saturation deficit.

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THE IDENTIFICATION OF «NEW» PATHOGENS FOR FOCAL INFECTIONS IN IXODES TICKS ON THE TERRITORY OF TULA REGION

Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases (Russian Journal) ◽

10.18821/1560-9529-2019-23-4-172-177 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 172-177

Author(s):

T. V. Kozlova ◽

T. I. Khomyakova ◽

V. G. Dedkov ◽

M. V. Safonova ◽

L. S. Karan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lyme Disease ◽

Ixodes Ricinus ◽

Mixed Infection ◽

Dermacentor Reticulatus ◽

Encephalitis Virus ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽

Ixodes Ticks ◽

Pcr Method ◽

Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽

Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis

The most of ixodes ticks in Tula region belongs to the group of pasture mites. It is generally accepted to estimate the tick’s contamination by the tick-borne encephalitis virus and raoueti inducing Lyme Borellia. The aim of the present work was to educe the aetiologic agents of the set of potentially-enable infections out of ticks Dermacentor reticulatus, Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes сrenulatus collected at the different terrains of Tula Region by PCR method. The results: a considerable number of pathogenic rickettsiae R. raoultii was educes from the ticks D. reticulatus, which including them as the component of mixed infection together with the human monocytic ehrlichiosis agent. R. raoultii was determined in more than a half of the cases in ticks I. ricinus including the mixed infection together with ticks’ borreliosis virus and Kemerovo fever agent. Conclusion. The reasons, induced the quantity changes of the ticks’ distribution at Tula Region terrains, apparently promote the rise in frequency of the ticks contamination with the agents of herd tick-transmissive infection. It demand an infectiologist’s attention rise and dictate the necessity of the above mentioned diseases monitoring as well as Fr. tularensis, the tick-borne encephalitis virus and Lyme disease.

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