10.5061/DRYAD.C7Q3N2C
Mysterud, Atle
University of Oslo
Heylen, Dieter
University of Hasselt
Mathyssen, Erik
University of Antwerp
Garcia, Aïda
Lista Bird Observatory, 4563 Borhaug, Norway
Jore, Solveig
Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Viljugrein, Hildegunn
University of Oslo
Data from: Lyme neuroborreliosis and bird populations in northern Europe
Dryad
dataset
2019
Lyme borreliosis
tick-borne diseases
host populations
1995-2017
genospecies
2019-05-08T04:00:27Z
2019-05-08T04:00:27Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0759
748011 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Many vector-borne diseases are transmitted through complex
pathogen-vector-host networks, which makes it challenging to identify the
role of specific host groups in disease emergence. Lyme borreliosis in
humans is now the most common vector-borne zoonosis in the northern
hemisphere. The disease is caused by multiple genospecies of Borrelia
burgdorferi sensu lato bacteria transmitted by ixodid (hard) ticks, and
the major host groups transmit Borrelia genospecies with different
pathogenicity, causing variable clinical symptoms in humans. The health
impact of a given host group is a function of the number of ticks it
infects as well as the pathogenicity of the genospecies it carries. B.
afzelii, with mainly small mammals as reservoirs, is the most common
pathogen causing Lyme borreliosis, and it is often responsible for the
largest proportion of infected host-seeking tick nymphs in Europe. The
bird-borne B. garinii, though less prevalent in nymphal ticks, is more
likely to cause Lyme neuroborreliosis, but whether B. garinii causes
disseminated disease more frequently has not been documented. Based on
extensive data of annual disease incidence across Norway from 1995-2017,
we show here that 69 % of disseminated Lyme borreliosis cases were
neuroborreliosis, which is three times higher than predicted from the
infection prevalence of B. garinii in host-seeking ticks (21 %). The
population estimate of migratory birds, mainly of thrushes, explained part
of the annual variation in cases of neuroborreliosis, with a one-year time
lag. We highlight the important role of the genospecies’ pathogenicity and
the host associations for understanding the epidemiology of disseminated
Lyme borreliosis.
Lyme disease data and covariatesLDdat2_vs2.csv
Norway