School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 7;14(1):13107. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-64085-6.
The environmental risk of Lyme disease, defined by the density of Ixodes scapularis ticks and their prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection, is increasing across the Ottawa, Ontario region, making this a unique location to explore the factors associated with environmental risk along a residential-woodland gradient. In this study, we collected I. scapularis ticks and trapped Peromyscus spp. mice, tested both for tick-borne pathogens, and monitored the intensity of foraging activity by deer in residential, woodland, and residential-woodland interface zones of four neighbourhoods. We constructed mixed-effect models to test for site-specific characteristics associated with densities of questing nymphal and adult ticks and the infection prevalence of nymphal and adult ticks. Compared to residential zones, we found a strong increasing gradient in tick density from interface to woodland zones, with 4 and 15 times as many nymphal ticks, respectively. Infection prevalence of nymphs and adults together was 15 to 24 times greater in non-residential zone habitats. Ecological site characteristics, including soil moisture, leaf litter depth, and understory density, were associated with variations in nymphal density and their infection prevalence. Our results suggest that high environmental risk bordering residential areas poses a concern for human-tick encounters, highlighting the need for targeted disease prevention.
莱姆病的环境风险取决于硬蜱的密度和伯氏疏螺旋体的流行程度，安大略省渥太华地区的这两个指标都在不断上升，这使得该地区成为一个独特的位置，可以探索与住宅-林地梯度相关的环境风险因素。在这项研究中，我们收集了硬蜱并诱捕了 Peromyscus spp. 鼠类，对两者都进行了蜱传病原体检测，并监测了鹿在四个街区的住宅、林地和住宅-林地交界区的觅食活动强度。我们构建了混合效应模型，以测试与寻血幼蜱和成年蜱密度以及幼蜱和成年蜱感染率相关的特定地点特征。与住宅区相比，我们发现从交界区到林地的寻血幼蜱密度呈明显上升梯度，分别增加了 4 倍和 15 倍。非住宅区栖息地的幼蜱和成虫总感染率高 15 至 24 倍。生态地点特征，包括土壤湿度、落叶层深度和林下密度，与幼蜱密度及其感染率的变化有关。我们的研究结果表明，毗邻居民区的高环境风险对人-蜱接触构成了威胁，突显了有针对性的疾病预防的必要性。
