Model of Risk of Exposure to Lyme Borreliosis and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus-Infected Ticks in the Border Area of the Czech Republic (South Bohemia) and Germany (Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate)

Václav Hönig, Pavel Švec, Lukáš Marek, Tomáš Mrkvička, Zubriková Dana, Maria (Vögerl) Wittmann, Ondřej Masař, Daniela Szturcová, Daniel Růžek, Kurt Pfister and Libor Grubhoffer
Additional contact information
Václav Hönig: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Pavel Švec: Department of Geoinformatics, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Lukáš Marek: GeoHealth Laboratory, Geospatial Research Institute, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
Tomáš Mrkvička: Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia, Studentska 13, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Zubriková Dana: Institute of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 5, 80802 Munich, Germany
Maria (Vögerl) Wittmann: Institute of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 5, 80802 Munich, Germany
Ondřej Masař: Department of Geoinformatics, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Daniela Szturcová: Department of Geoinformatics, VSB—Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Daniel Růžek: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Kurt Pfister: Institute of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 5, 80802 Munich, Germany
Libor Grubhoffer: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: In Europe, Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are the two vector-borne diseases with the largest impact on human health. Based on data on the density of host-seeking Ixodes ricinus ticks and pathogen prevalence and using a variety of environmental data, we have created an acarological risk model for a region where both diseases are endemic (Czech Republic—South Bohemia and Germany—Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate). The data on tick density were acquired by flagging 50 sampling sites three times in a single season. Prevalence of the causative agents of LB and TBE was determined. Data on environmental variables (e.g., altitude, vegetation cover, NDVI, land surface temperature) were obtained from various sources and processed using geographical information systems. Generalized linear models were used to estimate tick density, probability of tick infection, and density of infected ticks for the whole area. A significantly higher incidence of human TBE cases was recorded in South Bohemia compared to Bavarian regions, which correlated with a lower tick density in Bavaria. However, the differences in pathogen prevalence rates were not significant. The model outputs were made available to the public in the form of risk maps, indicating the distribution of tick-borne disease risk in space.

Keywords: tick; Lyme borreliosis; tick-borne encephalitis; Ixodes ricinus; risk modeling; geographical information systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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