Environmental Correlates of Lyme Disease Emergence in Southwest Virginia, 2005-2014.

ABSTRACT: Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America. Though human infection is mostly transmitted in a limited geography, the range has expanded in recent years. One notable area of recent expansion is in the mountainous region of southwestern Virginia. The ecological factors that facilitate or constrain the range of human Lyme disease in this region remain uncertain. To evaluate this further, we obtained ecological data, including remotely sensed data on forest structure and vegetation, weather data, and elevation. These data were aggregated within the census block groups of a 9,153 km2 area around the cities of Blacksburg and Roanoke, VA, an area with heterogeneous Lyme disease transmission. In this geographic area, 755 individuals were reported to have Lyme disease in th

SUBMITTER: Lantos PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285012 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature