Lyme borreliosis incidence in relation to mammalian abundance, climate, and landscape characteristics in a boreal area
Our study suggests that the factors explaining LB epidemiology cannot be generalized spatially but depend on local climate, landscape, and host community. Given the available data, environmental conditions seem to play a more predictable role in LB epidemiology than the estimated abundances of hosts at the municipality level, yet we cannot exclude host abundance effects. Hence, the key to enhancing our understanding of the complex mechanisms underlying the epidemiology of LB and other tick-borne infections is to clarify how tick distribution and abundance respond to alterations in the host community, habitat features, and local climate.
Authors
- Jussi Sane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6590-9520)
- Janne Sundell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6348-6296)
- Jukka T. Forsman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4156-7930)
- Juha Aalto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6819-4911)
- Mira H. Kajanus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9105-6469)
- Otso Huitu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3829-1213)
- Erkki Korpimäki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7596-1955)
- Sami M. Kivelä (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6844-9168)
- Jukka Ollgren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0765-4392)
- Hilppa Gregow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3805-2247)
- Hannu Pietiäinen
- Mahdi Aminikhah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8871-3731)
- Heikki Henttonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5674-3271)
- Eva R.K. Kallio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2991-612X)
- Yingying Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3066-197X)
- Leena Ruha
- Andreas Lindén (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5548-2671)
Institutions
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FI)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI)
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (FI)
- General Electric (Finland) (FI)
- University of Jyväskylä (FI)
- University of Oulu (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Parasites & Vectors
- Published
- 2025-12-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-025-07162-7
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.05