Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

Jani J. Sormunen; Tommi Andersson; Jouni Aspi; Jaana Bäck; Tony Cederberg; Noora Haavisto; Hanna Halonen; Jari Hänninen; Jasmin Inkinen; Niko Kulha; Maija Laaksonen; John Loehr; Satu Mäkelä; Katja Mäkinen; Joanna Norkko; Riku Paavola; Pauliina Pajala; Tuukka Petäjä; Anna Puisto; Ella Sippola; Martin Snickars; Janne Sundell; Niko Tanski; Antti Uotila; Ella-Maria Vesilahti; Eero J. Vesterinen; Silja Vuorenmaa; Hannu Ylönen; Jari Ylönen; Tero Klemola

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449

Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

Jani J. Sormunen, Tommi Andersson, Jouni Aspi, Jaana Bäck, Tony Cederberg, Noora Haavisto, Hanna Halonen, Jari Hänninen, Jasmin Inkinen, Niko Kulha, Maija Laaksonen, John Loehr, Satu Mäkelä, Katja Mäkinen, Joanna Norkko, Riku Paavola, Pauliina Pajala, Tuukka Petäjä, Anna Puisto, Ella SippolaMartin Snickars, Janne Sundell, Niko Tanski, Antti Uotila, Ella-Maria Vesilahti, Eero J. Vesterinen, Silja Vuorenmaa, Hannu Ylönen, Jari Ylönen, Tero Klemola

Environmental and Marine Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration.

Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May–September 2015–2018 (2012–2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV).

Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May–July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July–August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 ± 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 ± 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected.

This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future.

Original language	English
Article number	101449
Journal	Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
Volume	11
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449
Publication status	Published - 2020
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

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Sormunen, J. J., Andersson, T., Aspi, J., Bäck, J., Cederberg, T., Haavisto, N., Halonen, H., Hänninen, J., Inkinen, J., Kulha, N., Laaksonen, M., Loehr, J., Mäkelä, S., Mäkinen, K., Norkko, J., Paavola, R., Pajala, P., Petäjä, T., Puisto, A., ... Klemola, T. (2020). Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 11(5), Article 101449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449

@article{7930945bd52142eb93019dcec58afc55,

title = "Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland",

abstract = "In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration.Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May–September 2015–2018 (2012–2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV).Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May–July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July–August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 ± 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 ± 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected.This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future.",

author = "Sormunen, {Jani J.} and Tommi Andersson and Jouni Aspi and Jaana B{\"a}ck and Tony Cederberg and Noora Haavisto and Hanna Halonen and Jari H{\"a}nninen and Jasmin Inkinen and Niko Kulha and Maija Laaksonen and John Loehr and Satu M{\"a}kel{\"a} and Katja M{\"a}kinen and Joanna Norkko and Riku Paavola and Pauliina Pajala and Tuukka Pet{\"a}j{\"a} and Anna Puisto and Ella Sippola and Martin Snickars and Janne Sundell and Niko Tanski and Antti Uotila and Ella-Maria Vesilahti and Vesterinen, {Eero J.} and Silja Vuorenmaa and Hannu Yl{\"o}nen and Jari Yl{\"o}nen and Tero Klemola",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases",

issn = "1877-959X",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "5",

}

Sormunen, JJ, Andersson, T, Aspi, J, Bäck, J, Cederberg, T, Haavisto, N, Halonen, H, Hänninen, J, Inkinen, J, Kulha, N, Laaksonen, M, Loehr, J, Mäkelä, S, Mäkinen, K, Norkko, J, Paavola, R, Pajala, P, Petäjä, T, Puisto, A, Sippola, E, Snickars, M, Sundell, J, Tanski, N, Uotila, A, Vesilahti, E-M, Vesterinen, EJ, Vuorenmaa, S, Ylönen, H, Ylönen, J & Klemola, T 2020, 'Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland', Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, vol. 11, no. 5, 101449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449

TY - JOUR

T1 - Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

AU - Sormunen, Jani J.

AU - Andersson, Tommi

AU - Aspi, Jouni

AU - Bäck, Jaana

AU - Cederberg, Tony

AU - Haavisto, Noora

AU - Halonen, Hanna

AU - Hänninen, Jari

AU - Inkinen, Jasmin

AU - Kulha, Niko

AU - Laaksonen, Maija

AU - Loehr, John

AU - Mäkelä, Satu

AU - Mäkinen, Katja

AU - Norkko, Joanna

AU - Paavola, Riku

AU - Pajala, Pauliina

AU - Petäjä, Tuukka

AU - Puisto, Anna

AU - Sippola, Ella

AU - Snickars, Martin

AU - Sundell, Janne

AU - Tanski, Niko

AU - Uotila, Antti

AU - Vesilahti, Ella-Maria

AU - Vesterinen, Eero J.

AU - Vuorenmaa, Silja

AU - Ylönen, Hannu

AU - Ylönen, Jari

AU - Klemola, Tero

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration.Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May–September 2015–2018 (2012–2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV).Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May–July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July–August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 ± 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 ± 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected.This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future.

AB - In 2015 a long-term, nationwide tick and tick-borne pathogen (TBP) monitoring project was started by the Finnish Tick Project and the Finnish Research Station network (RESTAT), with the goal of producing temporally and geographically extensive data regarding exophilic ticks in Finland. In the current study, we present results from the first four years of this collaboration.Ticks were collected by cloth dragging from 11 research stations across Finland in May–September 2015–2018 (2012–2018 in Seili). Collected ticks were screened for twelve different pathogens by qPCR: Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia valaisiana, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia miyamotoi, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Francisella tularensis, Bartonella spp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV).Altogether 15 067 Ixodes ricinus and 46 Ixodes persulcatus were collected during 68 km of dragging. Field collections revealed different seasonal activity patterns for the two species. The activity of I. persulcatus adults (only one nymph detected) was unimodal, with activity only in May–July, whereas Ixodes ricinus was active from May to September, with activity peaks in September (nymphs) or July–August (adults). Overall, tick densities were higher during the latter years of the study. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were the most common pathogens detected, with 48.9 ± 8.4% (95% Cl) of adults and 25.3 ± 4.4% of nymphs carrying the bacteria. No samples positive for F. tularensis, Bartonella or TBEV were detected.This collaboration project involving the extensive Finnish Research Station network has ensured enduring and spatially extensive, long-term tick data collection to the foreseeable future.

U2 - 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449

DO - 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101449

M3 - Article

SN - 1877-959X

VL - 11

JO - Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

JF - Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

IS - 5

M1 - 101449

ER -

Monitoring of ticks and tick-borne pathogens through a nationwide research station network in Finland

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