Abstract
Ticks are known as the vectors of various zoonotic diseases such as Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. Though their occurrences are increasingly reported in some parts of China, our understanding of the pattern and determinants of ticks’ potential distribution over the country remain limited. In this study, we took advantage of the recently compiled spatial dataset of distribution and diversity of ticks in China, analyzed the environmental determinants of ten frequently reported tick species and mapped the spatial distribution of these species over the country using the MaxEnt model. We found that presence of urban fabric, cropland, and forest in a place are key determents of tick occurrence, suggesting ticks were likely inhabited close to where people live. Besides, precipitation in the driest month was found to have a relatively high contribution in mapping tick distribution. The model projected that theses ticks could be widely distributed in the Northwest, Central North, Northeast, and South China. Our results added new evidence on the potential distribution of a variety of major tick species in China and pinpointed areas with a high potential risk of tick bites and tick-borne diseases for raising public health awareness and prevention responses.
Highlights
Ticks are widely distributed across the world and considered to be the second most dangerous carriers of disease causative agents next to mosquito [1,2]
The MaxEnt model predicted that the extent of urban fabric, cropland, and forest precipitation of the driest month were the largest contributors to the modelling of the potential distribution of the ten tick species (Table 2)
We conducted a modelling study to project the potential distribution of ticks—an understudied disease vector in China
Summary
Ticks are widely distributed across the world and considered to be the second most dangerous carriers of disease causative agents next to mosquito [1,2]. The tick-borne encephalitis virus had caused widespread infections in East Europe, West Europe, Middle Europe, and Russia [3,4]. Since ticks can inhabit a wide range of vegetated habitats in the countryside, suburbs or even urban areas [5,6,7], they are posing threats to public and veterinary health wherever their population is established. Understanding the environmental determinants and spatial pattern of ticks’ distribution is fundamental to the prevention and control of tick-borne diseases.
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