Tick-borne diseases present an increasing health concern in Europe, where the tick Ixodes ricinus is the most important disease vector. The distribution of I. ricinus is expanding into new areas particularly in Northern Europe. Although climate is important determinant of the distribution of I. ricinus and its tick-borne pathogens, it is important to bear in mind that the parasitic ticks strictly depend on blood meals from their vertebrate hosts to develop and reproduce. Likewise, tick-borne pathogens depend on their competent host species, without whom the transmission and persistence of the pathogen is not possible. As the host species for ticks and tick-borne pathogens typically differ, the epidemiology of tick borne pathogens depends upon the complex interactions between multiple species. With this project I will quantify the role of different factors in the transmission and abundance of tick-borne pathogens in nature and use this information to predict risk to humans.

2017

2022