Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 May;28(5):957-966. doi: 10.3201/eid2805.211146.
Tickborne diseases (TBDs) such as Lyme disease result in ≈500,000 diagnoses annually in the United States. Various methods can reduce the abundance of ticks at small spatial scales, but whether these methods lower incidence of TBDs is poorly understood. We conducted a randomized, replicated, fully crossed, placebo-controlled, masked experiment to test whether 2 environmentally safe interventions, the Tick Control System (TCS) and Met52 fungal spray, used separately or together, affected risk for and incidence of TBDs in humans and pets in 24 residential neighborhoods. All participating properties in a neighborhood received the same treatment. TCS was associated with fewer questing ticks and fewer ticks feeding on rodents. The interventions did not result in a significant difference in incidence of human TBDs but did significantly reduce incidence in pets. Our study is consistent with previous evidence suggesting that reducing tick abundance in residential areas might not reduce incidence of TBDs in humans.
蜱传疾病（TBDs），如莱姆病，每年在美国导致 ≈50 万例诊断。各种方法可以减少小空间尺度上的蜱虫数量，但这些方法是否降低 TBDs 的发病率尚不清楚。我们进行了一项随机、重复、完全交叉、安慰剂对照、盲法实验，以测试 2 种环境安全干预措施，即蜱控制系统（TCS）和 Met52 真菌喷雾，单独或联合使用是否会影响人类和宠物患 TBDs 的风险和发病率在 24 个住宅社区中。一个社区的所有参与物业都接受相同的治疗。TCS 与较少的探索性蜱虫和较少的蜱虫吸食啮齿动物有关。这些干预措施并没有导致人类 TBDs 的发病率显著差异，但确实显著降低了宠物的发病率。我们的研究与先前的证据一致，表明减少住宅区的蜱虫数量可能不会降低人类 TBDs 的发病率。
