Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation
Globally, zoonotic vector-borne diseases are on the rise and understanding their complex transmission cycles is pertinent to mitigating disease risk. In North America, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease and is caused by transmission of <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140292 |
| _version_ | 1826204400377397248 |
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| author | Lilly, Marie Amaya-Mejia, Wilmer Pavan, Lucas Peng, Ceili Crews, Arielle Tran, Nghia Sehgal, Ravinder Swei, Andrea |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Lilly, Marie Amaya-Mejia, Wilmer Pavan, Lucas Peng, Ceili Crews, Arielle Tran, Nghia Sehgal, Ravinder Swei, Andrea |
| author_sort | Lilly, Marie |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Globally, zoonotic vector-borne diseases are on the rise and understanding their complex transmission cycles is pertinent to mitigating disease risk. In North America, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease and is caused by transmission of <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> sensu lato (s.l.) from <i>Ixodes</i> spp. ticks to a diverse group of vertebrate hosts. Small mammal reservoir hosts are primarily responsible for maintenance of <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. across the United States. Nevertheless, birds can also be parasitized by ticks and are capable of infection with <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. but their role in <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. transmission dynamics is understudied. Birds could be important in both the maintenance and spread of <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. and ticks because of their high mobility and shared habitat with important mammalian reservoir hosts. This study aims to better understand the role of avian hosts in tick-borne zoonotic disease transmission cycles in the western United States. We surveyed birds, mammals, and ticks at nine sites in northern California for <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. infection and collected data on other metrics of host community composition such as abundance and diversity of birds, small mammals, lizards, predators, and ticks. We found 22.8% of birds infected with <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. and that the likelihood of avian <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. infection was significantly associated with local host community composition and pathogen prevalence in California. Additionally, we found an average tick burden of 0.22 ticks per bird across all species. Predator and lizard abundances were significant predictors of avian tick infestation. These results indicate that birds are relevant hosts in the local <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. transmission cycle in the western United States and quantifying their role in the spread and maintenance of Lyme disease requires further research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:54:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/140292 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:54:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1402922024-06-07T17:41:29Z Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation Lilly, Marie Amaya-Mejia, Wilmer Pavan, Lucas Peng, Ceili Crews, Arielle Tran, Nghia Sehgal, Ravinder Swei, Andrea Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Globally, zoonotic vector-borne diseases are on the rise and understanding their complex transmission cycles is pertinent to mitigating disease risk. In North America, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease and is caused by transmission of <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> sensu lato (s.l.) from <i>Ixodes</i> spp. ticks to a diverse group of vertebrate hosts. Small mammal reservoir hosts are primarily responsible for maintenance of <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. across the United States. Nevertheless, birds can also be parasitized by ticks and are capable of infection with <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. but their role in <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. transmission dynamics is understudied. Birds could be important in both the maintenance and spread of <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. and ticks because of their high mobility and shared habitat with important mammalian reservoir hosts. This study aims to better understand the role of avian hosts in tick-borne zoonotic disease transmission cycles in the western United States. We surveyed birds, mammals, and ticks at nine sites in northern California for <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. infection and collected data on other metrics of host community composition such as abundance and diversity of birds, small mammals, lizards, predators, and ticks. We found 22.8% of birds infected with <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. and that the likelihood of avian <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. infection was significantly associated with local host community composition and pathogen prevalence in California. Additionally, we found an average tick burden of 0.22 ticks per bird across all species. Predator and lizard abundances were significant predictors of avian tick infestation. These results indicate that birds are relevant hosts in the local <i>B. burgdorferi</i> s.l. transmission cycle in the western United States and quantifying their role in the spread and maintenance of Lyme disease requires further research. 2022-02-11T17:50:04Z 2022-02-11T17:50:04Z 2022-01-29 2022-02-11T14:46:32Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2306-7381 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140292 Lilly, M.; Amaya-Mejia, W.; Pavan, L.; Peng, C.; Crews, A.; Tran, N.; Sehgal, R.; Swei, A. Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation. Veterinary Sciences 9 (2): 55 (2022) 10.3390/vetsci9020055 Veterinary Sciences Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf MDPI AG Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| spellingShingle | Lilly, Marie Amaya-Mejia, Wilmer Pavan, Lucas Peng, Ceili Crews, Arielle Tran, Nghia Sehgal, Ravinder Swei, Andrea Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title | Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title_full | Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title_fullStr | Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title_short | Local Community Composition Drives Avian Borrelia burgdorferi Infection and Tick Infestation |
| title_sort | local community composition drives avian borrelia burgdorferi infection and tick infestation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140292 |
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