Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region
Abstract Background Disease risk maps are important tools that help ascertain the likelihood of exposure to specific infectious agents. Understanding how climate change may affect the suitability of habitats for ticks will improve the accuracy of risk maps of tick-borne pathogen transmission in huma...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2014-04-01
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| Series: | Parasites & Vectors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-199 |
| _version_ | 1797811610861961216 |
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| author | Teresa P Feria-Arroyo Ivan Castro-Arellano Guadalupe Gordillo-Perez Ana L Cavazos Margarita Vargas-Sandoval Abha Grover Javier Torres Raul F Medina Adalberto A Pérez de León Maria D Esteve-Gassent |
| author_facet | Teresa P Feria-Arroyo Ivan Castro-Arellano Guadalupe Gordillo-Perez Ana L Cavazos Margarita Vargas-Sandoval Abha Grover Javier Torres Raul F Medina Adalberto A Pérez de León Maria D Esteve-Gassent |
| author_sort | Teresa P Feria-Arroyo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Disease risk maps are important tools that help ascertain the likelihood of exposure to specific infectious agents. Understanding how climate change may affect the suitability of habitats for ticks will improve the accuracy of risk maps of tick-borne pathogen transmission in humans and domestic animal populations. Lyme disease (LD) is the most prevalent arthropod borne disease in the US and Europe. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi causes LD and it is transmitted to humans and other mammalian hosts through the bite of infected Ixodes ticks. LD risk maps in the transboundary region between the U.S. and Mexico are lacking. Moreover, none of the published studies that evaluated the effect of climate change in the spatial and temporal distribution of I. scapularis have focused on this region. Methods The area of study included Texas and a portion of northeast Mexico. This area is referred herein as the Texas-Mexico transboundary region. Tick samples were obtained from various vertebrate hosts in the region under study. Ticks identified as I. scapularis were processed to obtain DNA and to determine if they were infected with B. burgdorferi using PCR. A maximum entropy approach (MAXENT) was used to forecast the present and future (2050) distribution of B. burgdorferi-infected I. scapularis in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region by correlating geographic data with climatic variables. Results Of the 1235 tick samples collected, 109 were identified as I. scapularis. Infection with B. burgdorferi was detected in 45% of the I. scapularis ticks collected. The model presented here indicates a wide distribution for I. scapularis, with higher probability of occurrence along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Results of the modeling approach applied predict that habitat suitable for the distribution of I. scapularis in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region will remain relatively stable until 2050. Conclusions The Texas-Mexico transboundary region appears to be part of a continuum in the pathogenic landscape of LD. Forecasting based on climate trends provides a tool to adapt strategies in the near future to mitigate the impact of LD related to its distribution and risk for transmission to human populations in the Mexico-US transboundary region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:26:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e3574a55cd44b328e8c73000c9805df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1756-3305 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:26:18Z |
| publishDate | 2014-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Parasites & Vectors |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e3574a55cd44b328e8c73000c9805df2023-06-04T11:21:26ZengBMCParasites & Vectors1756-33052014-04-017111610.1186/1756-3305-7-199Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary regionTeresa P Feria-Arroyo0Ivan Castro-Arellano1Guadalupe Gordillo-Perez2Ana L Cavazos3Margarita Vargas-Sandoval4Abha Grover5Javier Torres6Raul F Medina7Adalberto A Pérez de León8Maria D Esteve-Gassent9Department of Biology, The University of Texas-Pan AmericanDepartment of Biology, College of Science and Engineering, Texas State UniversityUnidad de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Centro Médico Nacional SXXI, IMSSDepartment of Biology, The University of Texas-Pan AmericanFacultad de Agrobiología, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de HidalgoDepartment of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M UniversityUnidad de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Centro Médico Nacional SXXI, IMSSDepartment of Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M UniversityUSDA-ARS Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research LaboratoryDepartment of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M UniversityAbstract Background Disease risk maps are important tools that help ascertain the likelihood of exposure to specific infectious agents. Understanding how climate change may affect the suitability of habitats for ticks will improve the accuracy of risk maps of tick-borne pathogen transmission in humans and domestic animal populations. Lyme disease (LD) is the most prevalent arthropod borne disease in the US and Europe. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi causes LD and it is transmitted to humans and other mammalian hosts through the bite of infected Ixodes ticks. LD risk maps in the transboundary region between the U.S. and Mexico are lacking. Moreover, none of the published studies that evaluated the effect of climate change in the spatial and temporal distribution of I. scapularis have focused on this region. Methods The area of study included Texas and a portion of northeast Mexico. This area is referred herein as the Texas-Mexico transboundary region. Tick samples were obtained from various vertebrate hosts in the region under study. Ticks identified as I. scapularis were processed to obtain DNA and to determine if they were infected with B. burgdorferi using PCR. A maximum entropy approach (MAXENT) was used to forecast the present and future (2050) distribution of B. burgdorferi-infected I. scapularis in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region by correlating geographic data with climatic variables. Results Of the 1235 tick samples collected, 109 were identified as I. scapularis. Infection with B. burgdorferi was detected in 45% of the I. scapularis ticks collected. The model presented here indicates a wide distribution for I. scapularis, with higher probability of occurrence along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Results of the modeling approach applied predict that habitat suitable for the distribution of I. scapularis in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region will remain relatively stable until 2050. Conclusions The Texas-Mexico transboundary region appears to be part of a continuum in the pathogenic landscape of LD. Forecasting based on climate trends provides a tool to adapt strategies in the near future to mitigate the impact of LD related to its distribution and risk for transmission to human populations in the Mexico-US transboundary region.https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-199Ixodes scapularisBorrelia burgdorferiTransboundary diseaseLyme disease risk mapClimate change |
| spellingShingle | Teresa P Feria-Arroyo Ivan Castro-Arellano Guadalupe Gordillo-Perez Ana L Cavazos Margarita Vargas-Sandoval Abha Grover Javier Torres Raul F Medina Adalberto A Pérez de León Maria D Esteve-Gassent Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region Parasites & Vectors Ixodes scapularis Borrelia burgdorferi Transboundary disease Lyme disease risk map Climate change |
| title | Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region |
| title_full | Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region |
| title_fullStr | Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region |
| title_short | Implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis and risk for Lyme disease in the Texas-Mexico transboundary region |
| title_sort | implications of climate change on the distribution of the tick vector ixodes scapularis and risk for lyme disease in the texas mexico transboundary region |
| topic | Ixodes scapularis Borrelia burgdorferi Transboundary disease Lyme disease risk map Climate change |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-199 |
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