title: Ixodes ricinus and Its Transmitted Pathogens in Urban and Peri-Urban Areas in Europe: New Hazards and Relevance for Public Health.
abstract: Tick-borne diseases represent major public and animal health issues worldwide. Ixodes ricinus, primarily associated with deciduous and mixed forests, is the principal vector of causative agents of viral, bacterial, and protozoan zoonotic diseases in Europe. Recently, abundant tick populations have been observed in European urban green areas, which are of public health relevance due to the exposure of humans and domesticated animals to potentially infected ticks. In urban habitats, small and medium-sized mammals, birds, companion animals (dogs and cats), and larger mammals (roe deer and wild boar) play a role in maintenance of tick populations and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. Presence of ticks infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus and high prevalence of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., causing Lyme borreliosis, have been reported from urbanized areas in Europe. Emerging pathogens, including bacteria of the order Rickettsiales (Anaplasma phagocytophilum, "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis," Rickettsia helvetica, and R. monacensis), Borrelia miyamotoi, and protozoans (Babesia divergens, B. venatorum, and B. microti) have also been detected in urban tick populations. Understanding the ecology of ticks and their associations with hosts in a European urbanized environment is crucial to quantify parameters necessary for risk pre-assessment and identification of public health strategies for control and prevention of tick-borne diseases.
authors.affiliation: Fondazione Edmund Mach, Research and Innovation Centre, San Michele all'Adige , Trento , Italy.
authors.forename: Annapaola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rizzoli
authors.affiliation: Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität , Munich , Germany ; Vetsuisse-Faculty, Swiss National Centre for Vector Entomology, Institute for Parasitology, University of Zurich , Zürich , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.affiliation: Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität , Munich , Germany ; Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig , Leipzig , Germany.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Obiegala
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i. , Brno , Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rudolf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i. , Brno , Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdeněk
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hubálek
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University , Budapest , Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Földvári
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1300 BioEpAR , Nantes , France ; LUNAM Université, Oniris, Ecole nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l'alimentation Nantes-Atlantique, UMR BioEpAR , Nantes , France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Plantard
authors.affiliation: USC BIPAR, INRA, ANSES - French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety , Maisons-Alfort , France.
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vayssier-Taussat
authors.affiliation: USC BIPAR, INRA, ANSES - French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety , Maisons-Alfort , France.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonnet
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences , Bratislava , Slovakia.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spitalská
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences , Bratislava , Slovakia.
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazimírová
keywords: Europe; Ixodes ricinus; tick-borne pathogens; ticks; urban habitats