Garcia-Vozmediano Aitor, Giglio Giorgia, Ramassa Elisa, Nobili Fabrizio, Rossi Luca, Tomassone Laura
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy.
Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Cozie, Via Fransuà Fontan, 1, 10050 Salbertrand, Italy.
Vet Sci. 2021 Jul 13;8(7):131. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8070131.
Risk perception, together with the adoption of measures to prevent tick bites, may strongly influence human exposure to ticks and transmitted pathogens. We created a questionnaire to evaluate how people perceive the health risk posed by ticks in an area recently invaded by these arthropods, in the western Italian Alps. Moreover, through a collaborative effort with park rangers and physicians, we investigated which tick species bite humans and their infection with pathogens ( s.l., and spotted-fever group Rickettsiae). Apart from two bites, we identified ( = 124) as the main species responsible for tick bites. The investigated pathogens infected 25.4% of tested . The evaluation of the engorgement rate of biting revealed that they had been likely feeding on humans for 24 h or more, suggesting a high probability of pathogen transmission. Indeed, the questionnaires revealed that people infrequently adopt preventive measures, such as inspecting the body for ticks, although most respondents claimed that ticks are a threat to human health. Having suffered from previous tick bites was positively associated with the adoption of personal protection measures. Given the increasing incidence of tick-borne diseases in the region, the public should be better informed about the possibility of being bitten by infected ticks in order to mitigate the risk.
风险认知以及采取预防蜱虫叮咬的措施，可能会强烈影响人类接触蜱虫及蜱传病原体的情况。我们设计了一份问卷，以评估在意大利阿尔卑斯山西部近期遭受这些节肢动物入侵的地区，人们如何看待蜱虫带来的健康风险。此外，通过与公园护林员和医生的合作，我们调查了叮咬人类的蜱虫种类及其病原体（广义的立克次氏体属和斑点热群立克次氏体）感染情况。除了两例其他蜱虫叮咬外，我们确定蓖子硬蜱（124只）是导致蜱虫叮咬的主要种类。所调查的病原体感染了25.4%的受试蜱虫。对叮咬蜱虫饱血率的评估表明，它们很可能已吸食人类血液24小时或更长时间，这表明病原体传播的可能性很高。实际上，问卷调查显示，尽管大多数受访者声称蜱虫对人类健康构成威胁，但人们很少采取诸如检查身体是否有蜱虫等预防措施。曾遭受过蜱虫叮咬与采取个人防护措施呈正相关。鉴于该地区蜱传疾病发病率不断上升，应让公众更好地了解被感染蜱虫叮咬的可能性，以降低风险。
