Enhanced threat of tick-borne infections within cities? Assessing public health risks due to ticks in urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland.

ABSTRACT: Most tick-related studies in Europe have been conducted in nonurban areas, but ticks and tick-borne pathogens also occur in urban green spaces. From a public health perspective, risks regarding tick-borne infections should be studied in these urban areas, where contacts between infected ticks and humans may be more frequent than elsewhere, due to high human activity. We examined the risk of encountering an infected tick in urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland. We collected ticks at nine sites throughout Helsinki, recorded the prevalence of several pathogens and identified areas with a high potential for contacts between infected ticks and humans. Moreover, we explored the relationship between the density of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato-infected ticks and locally diagnosed cases of bo

SUBMITTER: Sormunen JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7702030 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature