Meta-analysis: A useful tool to assess infection prevalence and disease ecology of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in nymphal ticks in North-Western Europe with recommendations for a standardised approach to future studies

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis is a vector-borne disease of concern in Europe. While neuroborreliosis data are reportable at EU level, it can nevertheless be difficult to make comparisons of disease risk between neighbouring countries. This study used proportion meta-analyses to compare environmental markers of disease risk between woodland sites in two countries in North-Western Europe (Ireland, Scotland). 73 site-visits from 12 publications were analysed, resulting in a significantly higher pooled nymphal infection prevalence (NIP) in Ireland (8.2% (95% CI: 5.9–11.4%)) than Scotland (1.7%(95% CI 1.1–2.5%)). All other analysed parameters of disease risk were also higher in Ireland than Scotland. Subgroup-meta-analyses and meta-regressions were used to assess the influence of environmental variables on NIP. NIP increased significantly with increasing woodland size in Ireland, but not Scotland, which may be accounted for by Ireland's highly fragmented landscape.Assuming the application of strict inclusion/exclusion criteria and control of variables, proportion meta-analysis can provide useful insights in disease ecology, as it allows for the achievement of high study powers incorporating samples collected across multiple sites, which is otherwise often a prohibitively difficult and resource-heavy feat in environmental studies in disease ecology. A standardised approach to data collection is recommended to achieve more robust meta-analyses in future in conjunction with additional research on environmental factors affecting Lyme borreliosis risk in Europe, particularly pertaining to the impact of host species on NIP.