Giery Sean T, Ostfeld Richard S
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Route 44A, Millbrook, New York 12545, USA.
J Parasitol. 2007 Jun;93(3):511-7. doi: 10.1645/GE-1053R1.1.
We examined the role of lizards in the ecology of Lyme disease in New York and Maryland. We collected data on vector tick infestations, measured lizard "realized" reservoir competence for the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, and estimated lizard population density. These data were incorporated into a model that predicts a host's ability to influence the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in the tick population, a primary risk factor in the epidemiology of Lyme disease. Published data on other northeastern hosts were included in the model to provide a reference for interpreting the importance of lizards as hosts. The model results indicate that 5-lined skinks (Eumeces fasciatus) are dilution hosts, capable of reducing infection prevalence in the tick population by 10.7-51.5 percentage points, whereas eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) are not dilution hosts in the areas studied. Owing to moderate burdens of larval ticks, relatively high population densities, and reservoir incompetence, E. fasciatus may play an important role in the ecology of Lyme disease by reducing vector infection prevalence and associated human risk of infection.
我们研究了蜥蜴在纽约和马里兰州莱姆病生态中的作用。我们收集了有关媒介蜱虫感染的数据，测量了蜥蜴对莱姆病螺旋体伯氏疏螺旋体的“实际”储存宿主能力，并估算了蜥蜴的种群密度。这些数据被纳入一个模型，该模型可预测宿主影响蜱虫种群中伯氏疏螺旋体患病率的能力，而这是莱姆病流行病学中的一个主要风险因素。模型中纳入了其他东北部宿主的已发表数据，以便为解释蜥蜴作为宿主的重要性提供参考。模型结果表明，五线石龙子（Eumeces fasciatus）是稀释宿主，能够将蜱虫种群中的感染患病率降低10.7 - 51.5个百分点，而在所研究的区域中，东部围栏蜥蜴（Sceloporus undulatus）并非稀释宿主。由于幼蜱负担适中、种群密度相对较高且无储存宿主能力，五线石龙子可能通过降低媒介感染患病率及相关的人类感染风险，在莱姆病生态中发挥重要作用。
