6533b7d8fe1ef96bd12699c5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland.

Janne SundellJari YlönenJani J. SormunenTero KlemolaNoora HaavistoHannu YlönenSilja VuorenmaaTony CederbergHanna HalonenTommi AnderssonJaana BäckJasmin InkinenTuukka PetäjäJohn LoehrNiko KulhaMaija LaaksonenEero J. VesterinenEero J. VesterinenNiko TanskiMartin SnickarsSatu MäkeläElla-maria VesilahtiPauliina PajalaJari HänninenAntti UotilaRiku PaavolaKatja MäkinenJoanna NorkkoAnna I. E. PuistoElla SippolaJouni Aspi

subject

0301 basic medicineviruksetPopulation DynamicsmonitorointiIxodes persulcatuspuutiaisetACARImedicine.disease_causeBURGDORFERI SENSU-LATODISEASEbakteeritTicks0302 clinical medicineINFECTIONPOPULATIONFinland11832 Microbiology and virologyTick-borne pathogensbiologylongitudinal studylevinneisyysPREVALENCEInfectious Diseasestaudinaiheuttajat1181 Ecology evolutionary biologyEpidemiological Monitoringtick-borne pathogensBartonella-bakteeritSeasonsLongitudinal studyNymphIxodes ricinusMonitoringBorrelia valaisiana030231 tropical medicineZoologyBabesiaLYME BORRELIOSISBorrelia miyamotoipitkittäistutkimusTickBorrelia afzeliiMicrobiologyticksEncephalitis Viruses Tick-Borne03 medical and health sciencesCOINFECTIONSparasitic diseasesGram-Negative BacteriamedicineAnimalsBorrelia burgdorferiIxodesIXODES-RICINUS TICKSbiology.organism_classificationbacterial infections and mycosespunkitBorrelia-bakteeritmonitoring030104 developmental biologyNationwideitiöeläimetInsect ScienceParasitologyBorrelia gariniinationwideCANDIDATUS NEOEHRLICHIA MIKURENSIS

description

In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration. Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May September 2015-2018 (2012-2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 +/- 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 +/- 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected. This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future. Peer reviewed

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-09-01Ticks and tick-borne diseases
10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32723639