Lyme disease in Europe: facts and no fiction
In: Emerging pests and vector-borne diseases in EuropeSearch for other papers by Fedor Gassner in
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Search for other papers by Leo S. van Overbeek in
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Lyme disease is an emerging disease in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. Ixodes ricinus L. ticks infected with Lyme disease-causative agents have been found throughout Europe. Remarkable are the large differences in infection rates between different regions. It is supposed that the observed heterogeneity in infected tick numbers is characteristic of the way Borrelia species are acquired and transmitted by I. ricinus ticks. One factor directly affecting microbial communities in the tick gut, including populations of Borrelia species, is host blood. Smaller animals such as birds and rodents, often called ‘reservoir hosts’, play an especially important role in the transmission of Borrelia species between vector and hosts. Local environmental aspects may largely impact these groups of smaller animals and modulate their populations. Factors such as soil, vegetation, predation and human interference can have a large influence on local and temporal fluctuations of reservoir hosts and supposedly also on Borrelia-species-infected tick numbers. Local variations in these factors cause differences in infection rates in ticks and we propose that large fluctuations in infected tick numbers may occur at a small scale: so-called ‘hot spots’ of infected ticks. The concept of hot spots needs further attention, as it is important for the control of infected ticks in natural areas via local and integrative approaches.