Estimating the distribution of Oryzomys palustris, a potential key host in expanding rickettsial tick-borne disease risk.

ABSTRACT: Increasingly, geographic approaches to assessing the risk of tick-borne diseases are being used to inform public health decision-making and surveillance efforts. The distributions of key tick species of medical importance are often modeled as a function of environmental factors, using niche modeling approaches to capture habitat suitability. However, this is often disconnected from the potential distribution of key host species, which may play an important role in the actual transmission cycle and risk potential in expanding tick-borne disease risk. Using species distribution modeling, we explore the potential geographic range of Oryzomys palustris, the marsh rice rat, which has been implicated as a potential reservoir host of Rickettsia parkeri, a pathogen transmitted by the

SUBMITTER: Lippi CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11359945 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature