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Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America

Tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America is a zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium, Borrelia hermsii, which is transmitted by the bite of infected Ornithodoros hermsi ticks. The pathogen is maintained in natural cycles involving small rodent hosts such as chipmunks and tree squirre...

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Autores principales: Sage, Kylie M., Johnson, Tammi L., Teglas, Michael B., Nieto, Nathan C., Schwan, Tom G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5679642/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29084219
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006047
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author Sage, Kylie M.
Johnson, Tammi L.
Teglas, Michael B.
Nieto, Nathan C.
Schwan, Tom G.
author_facet Sage, Kylie M.
Johnson, Tammi L.
Teglas, Michael B.
Nieto, Nathan C.
Schwan, Tom G.
author_sort Sage, Kylie M.
collection PubMed
description Tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America is a zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium, Borrelia hermsii, which is transmitted by the bite of infected Ornithodoros hermsi ticks. The pathogen is maintained in natural cycles involving small rodent hosts such as chipmunks and tree squirrels, as well as the tick vector. In order for these ticks to establish sustained and viable populations, a narrow set of environmental parameters must exist, primarily moderate temperatures and moderate to high amounts of precipitation. Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling (Maxent) was used to predict the species distribution of O. hermsi and B. hermsii through time and space based on current climatic trends and future projected climate changes. From this modeling process, we found that the projected current distributions of both the tick and spirochete align with known endemic foci for the disease. Further, global climate models predict a shift in the distribution of suitable habitat for the tick vector to higher elevations. Our predictions are useful for targeting surveillance efforts in areas of high risk in western North America, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of public health investigations and vector control efforts.
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spelling pubmed-56796422017-11-18 Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America Sage, Kylie M. Johnson, Tammi L. Teglas, Michael B. Nieto, Nathan C. Schwan, Tom G. PLoS Negl Trop Dis Research Article Tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America is a zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium, Borrelia hermsii, which is transmitted by the bite of infected Ornithodoros hermsi ticks. The pathogen is maintained in natural cycles involving small rodent hosts such as chipmunks and tree squirrels, as well as the tick vector. In order for these ticks to establish sustained and viable populations, a narrow set of environmental parameters must exist, primarily moderate temperatures and moderate to high amounts of precipitation. Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling (Maxent) was used to predict the species distribution of O. hermsi and B. hermsii through time and space based on current climatic trends and future projected climate changes. From this modeling process, we found that the projected current distributions of both the tick and spirochete align with known endemic foci for the disease. Further, global climate models predict a shift in the distribution of suitable habitat for the tick vector to higher elevations. Our predictions are useful for targeting surveillance efforts in areas of high risk in western North America, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of public health investigations and vector control efforts. Public Library of Science 2017-10-30 /pmc/articles/PMC5679642/ /pubmed/29084219 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006047 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
Sage, Kylie M.
Johnson, Tammi L.
Teglas, Michael B.
Nieto, Nathan C.
Schwan, Tom G.
Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title_full Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title_fullStr Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title_full_unstemmed Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title_short Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America
title_sort ecological niche modeling and distribution of ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western north america
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5679642/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29084219
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006047
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