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There Goes the Neighbourhood : A Multi‐City Study Reveals Ticks and Tick‐Borne Pathogens Commonly Occupy Urban Green Spaces

Publiceringsår

2025

Upphovspersoner

Sormunen, Jani J.; Kylänpää, Satu; Sippola, Ella; Elo, Riikka; Kiran, Nosheen; Pakanen, Veli-Matti; Kallio, Eva R.; Vesterinen, Eero J.; Klemola, Tero

Abstrakt

Introduction Humans acquire tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) from infected ticks contacted during outdoor activities. Outdoor activity is at its highest in urban green spaces, where the presence of tick populations has increasingly been observed. Consequently, more insight into factors influencing the presence of ticks therein is needed. Here, we assess the occurrence of ticks and several TBPs in urban green spaces in Finland, estimate related human hazard and assess how landscape features influence tick and TBP occurrence therein. Methods Ticks collected from five cities during 2019–2020 were utilised. Borrelia, Rickettsia, Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia and TBEV were screened from ticks using qPCR. Various landscape features were calculated and utilised in generalised linear mixed models to assess their contribution towards tick and TBP occurrence in green spaces. Finally, human population density proximate to each study site was calculated and used to create population-weighted risk indices. Results Borrelia were the most common pathogens detected, with 22% of nymphs and 43% of adults infected. Increasing forest cover had a positive effect on the densities of nymphs and adults, whereas forest size had a negative effect. Middling percentages of artificial surfaces predicted higher nymph densities than low or high values. Human population-weighted risk estimates were highly varied, even within cities. A positive correlation was observed between total city population and risk indices. Conclusions Ticks and TBPs are commonplace in urban green spaces in Finland. Enzootic cycles for Borrelia and Rickettsia appear to be well maintained within cities, leading to widespread risk of infection therein. Our results suggest that nymph densities are highest in urban forests of medium size, whereas small or large forests show reduced densities. Green spaces of roughly similar risk can be found in cities of different sizes, emphasising that the identification of areas of particularly high hazard is important for effective mitigation actions.
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Organisationer och upphovspersoner

Jyväskylä universitet

Kallio Eva Orcid -palvelun logo

Kiran Nosheen

Åbo universitet

Sormunen Jani

Klemola Tero

Vesterinen Eero

Kylänpää Satu

Elo Riikka

Uleåborgs universitet

Pakanen Veli-Matti

Publikationstyp

Publikationsform

Artikel

Moderpublikationens typ

Tidning

Artikelstyp

En originalartikel

Målgrupp

Vetenskaplig

Kollegialt utvärderad

Kollegialt utvärderad

UKM:s publikationstyp

A1 Originalartikel i en vetenskaplig tidskrift

Publikationskanalens uppgifter

Förläggare

Wiley-Blackwell

Publikationsforum

69466

Publikationsforumsnivå

2

Öppen tillgång

Öppen tillgänglighet i förläggarens tjänst

Ja

Öppen tillgång till publikationskanalen

Delvis öppen publikationskanal

Parallellsparad

Ja

Parallellagringens licens

CC BY

Övriga uppgifter

Vetenskapsområden

Ekologi, evolutionsbiologi; Biomedicinska vetenskaper; Folkhälsovetenskap, miljö och arbetshälsa

Nyckelord

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Publiceringsland

Tyskland

Förlagets internationalitet

Internationell

Språk

engelska

Internationell sampublikation

Nej

Sampublikation med ett företag

Nej

DOI

10.1111/zph.13208

Publikationen ingår i undervisnings- och kulturministeriets datainsamling

Ja