Abstract
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an endemic infection of public health importance in Finland. We investigated the effect of ecologic factors on 2007–2017 TBE trends. We obtained domestic TBE case data from the National Infectious Diseases Register, weather data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and data from the Natural Resources Institute in Finland on mammals killed by hunters yearly in game management areas. We performed a mixed-effects time-series analysis with time lags on weather and animal parameters, adding a random effect to game management areas. During 2007–2017, a total of 395/460 (86%) domestic TBE cases were reported with known place of exposure and date of sampling. Overall, TBE incidence increased yearly by 15%. After adjusting for the density of other animals and minimum temperatures, we found thatTBE incidence was positively associated with white-tailed deer density. Variation in host animal density should be considered when assessing TBE risks and designing interventions.
Highlights
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an endemic infection of public health importance in Finland
We included in the analysis the remaining 395 (81%) cases of domestic TBE reported to National Infectious Diseases Register (NIDR)
Nationwide domestic TBE incidence significantly increased by 15% (IR 1.15; 95% CI 1.10–1.20) yearly, with regional variation (Table 1)
Summary
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an endemic infection of public health importance in Finland. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an endemic vectorborne infectious disease of public health importance in Finland. It is caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a member of the Flavivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. Several seasonal or environmental factors, such as temperature [16,17] and humidity [18], along with the number of animal hosts for ticks feeding [19], have been shown to affect tick life cycles and activity, which in turn have been associated with transmission of tick-borne infections, such as Lyme disease [18,20,21] and TBE [21,22,23,24]. Our aim was to assess the effects of environmental factors, game animal density, and temperatures on TBE emergence and distribution in Finland and to use these findings to inform risk assessment and prevention strategies
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