Tick-Borne Diseases in Urban and Periurban Areas: A Blind Spot in Research and Public Health.

The wild life of tick-borne pathogens

Evoking the risk, even in urban areas, brings us back almost mechanically to the risks of flooding, or even silting up in certain regions. However, there are many other risks in cities that are still little or no explored using GIS solutions. We will mention in particular the problems encountered in the outskirts of cities and so-called sensitive areas, but also those due to the very configuration of certain neighborhoods (concentration of buildings, absence of support infrastructure) which generate risk situations. , or rather danger. Of course, we cannot overlook the problem of old neighborhoods that are abandoned in certain regions, but where populations still live and are exposed to multiple dangers following the continuous dilapidation of buildings. Finally, it is useful, even necessary, to also mention the perception of risk, which is sometimes extremely vague, in the minds of populations who end up generating their own risk themselves. In this article, we briefly examine the notion of risk, its perception in the collective mind and its consequences in everyday life. We then present, on a practical example, the contribution of GIS solutions and satellite imagery to the analysis and forecasting of risk in urban areas. The examples are taken from Algerian towns in the pre-Saharan zone. We will take the city of Laghouat as an example and we will develop the aspect of risk generation by the individual and society as a whole; we will also see how the local authority contributes to this situation of generation of risk or danger and, above all, how it can remedy it.

The true extent of tick-borne disease (TBD) incidence and risk among humans is largely unknown, posing significant public health challenges. This study offers an exploratory analysis of a multimodal dataset and is part of a larger ongoing project to determine if entomological data, canine serological reports, self-reported human tick bite encounters (TBEs), and/or associated TBD diagnoses can serve as proxies for human disease risk. Focusing on the United States (U.S.), it characterizes self-reported TBD diagnoses (specifically, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, and Lyme disease), co-infections, and their frequency and distribution across U.S. counties in relation to the presence of other factors related to TBD risk. Survey data was used to construct a list of TBEs localizable to individual U.S. counties. National data regarding these counties—namely the presence of official Lyme Disease (LD) case reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the tick vectors I. scapularis and I. pacificus within a given county—were then linked with survey-reported TBEs, tabulated by diagnosis (including co-infections), to determine the distribution of county-level endpoints across diagnostic categories. In addition, data on the presence of positive serological diagnostic tests conducted in canines were considered due to their potential utility as a proxy for TBD and TBE risk. The final dataset contained 249 TBEs localized to a total of 144 counties across 30 states. Diagnostic categories included respondents with LD (n = 70) and those with anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis diagnoses and co-infections (n < 20 per diagnostic category). TBEs also were indicated by respondents who did not report TBD diagnoses, with some indicating uncertainty. The distribution of respondent-reported TBEs varied between canine TBDs, with LD-positive respondents reporting noticeably larger proportions of TBEs in counties with canine LD and smaller proportions in counties with canine anaplasmosis, compared to respondents without an LD diagnosis; a notional logistic regression suggests these differences may be significant (canine LD: Odds Ratio [OR] = 6.04, p = 0.026) (canine anaplasmosis: OR = 0.50, p = 0.095). These results suggest that certain widely available diagnostic TBD data in animals (in this case, domesticated dogs) may be sensitive to differences in human TBD risk factors and thus may have utility as proxies in future research. In the absence of an available standardized, unified, and national TBD database, such proxies, along with relevant surveys and reports, may provide a much-needed working solution for scientists and clinicians studying TBDs.

City-level estimates of ambient ozone concentrations and associated disease burdens are sparsely available, especially for low and middle-income countries. Recently available high-resolution gridded global ozone concentration estimates allow for estimating ozone concentrations and mortality at urban scales and for urban-rural catchment areas worldwide. We applied existing fine resolution global surface ozone estimates, developed by integrating observations (8834 sites globally) with nine atmospheric chemistry models, in an epidemiologically-derived health impact function to estimate chronic respiratory disease mortality worldwide in 2019. We compared ozone season daily maximum 8 h mixing ratio concentrations and ozone-attributable mortality for urban areas worldwide (including cities and densely-populated towns), and their surrounding peri-urban, peri-rural, and rural areas. In 2019, population-weighted mean ozone among all urban-rural catchment areas was greatest in peri-urban areas (52 ppb), followed by urban areas (cities and towns; 49 ppb). Of 423 100 estimated global ozone-attributable deaths, 37% (147 100) occurred in urban areas, where 40% of the world’s population resides, and 56% (254 000) occurred in peri-urban areas (<1 h from an urban area), where 47% of the world’s population resides. Across 12 946 cities (excluding towns), average population-weighted mean ozone was 51 ppb (sd = 13 ppb, range = 10–78 ppb). Three quarters of the ozone-attributable deaths worldwide (77%; 112 700) occurred in cities of South and East Asia. City-level ozone-attributable mortality rates varied by a factor of 10 across world regions. Ozone levels and attributable mortality were greatest in Asian and African cities; however, cities of higher-income regions, like high-income Asia Pacific and North America, continue to experience high ozone concentrations and attributable mortality rates, despite successful national air quality measures for reducing ozone precursor emissions. The disproportionate magnitude of ozone mortality compared with population size in peri-urban areas indicates that reducing ozone precursor emissions in places that influence peri-urban concentrations can yield substantial health benefits in these areas.

BackgroundThe extent of tick-borne disease (TBD) risk in the United States is generally unknown. Active surveillance using entomological measures, such as presence and density of infected nymphal Ixodes scapularis ticks, have served as indicators for assessing human risk, but results have been inconsistent and passive surveillance via public health systems suggests TBDs are underreported.ObjectiveResearch using various data sources and collection methods (eg, Google Trends, apps, and tick bite encounters [TBEs] reports) has shown promise for assessing human TBD risk. In that vein, and engaging a One Health perspective, this study used multimodal databases, geographically overlaying patient survey data on TBEs and concomitant reports of TBDs with data drawn from other sources, such as canine serological reports, to glean insights and to determine and assess the use of various indicators as proxies for human TBD risk.MethodsThis study used a mixed methods research strategy, relying on triangulation techniques and drawing on multiple data sources to provide insights into various aspects of human disease risk from TBEs and TBDs in the United States. A web-based survey was conducted over a 15-month period beginning in December 2020 to collect data on TBEs. To maximize the value of the covariate data, related analyses included TBE reports that occurred in the United States between January 1, 2000, and March 31, 2021. TBEs among patients diagnosed with Lyme disease were analyzed at the county level and compared to I scapularis and I pacificus tick presence, human cases identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and canine serological data. Spatial analyses employed multilayer thematic mapping and other techniques.ResultsAfter cleaning, survey results showed a total of 249 (75.7%) TBEs spread across 148 respondents (61.9% of all respondents, 81.7% of TBE-positive respondents); 144 (4.7%) counties in 30 states (60%) remained eligible for analysis, with an average of 1.68 (SD 1.00) and median of 1 (IQR 1) TBEs per respondent. Analysis revealed significant spatial matching at the county level among patient survey reports of TBEs and disease risk indicators from the CDC and other official sources. Thematic mapping results included one-for-one county-level matching of reported TBEs with at least 1 designated source of human disease risk (ie, positive canine serological tests, CDC-reported Lyme disease, or known tick presence).ConclusionsUse of triangulation methods to integrate patient data on TBE recall with established canine serological reports, tick presence, and official human TBD information offers more granular, county-level information regarding TBD risk to inform clinicians and public health officials. Such data may supplement public health sources to offer improved surveillance and provide bases for developing robust proxies for TBD risk among humans.

Green areas in and around the city have often been used by urban inhabitants as a source of food and timber, for recreation, cultural and aesthetic purposes, or as a source of fresh air and other health benefits. More recently, their hazard regulating functions are increasingly valued and acknowledged as a desirable strategy goal to reduce risk to climatic and hydro-meteorological hazards. However, this often generate tradeoffs. Most of the literature on ecosystem services&rsquo; tradeoffs has concentrated on provisioning versus cultural and regulating services. The potential tradeoffs arising between managing nature for recreational, spiritual, mental benefits and for hazard regulating functions in urban and peri-urban areas have rarely been explored. In this paper we assess cultural and regulating services in the Carmel peri-urban forest of Haifa (Israel) using participatory mapping GIS-based methods. We interview local stakeholders and users of the Carmel peri-urban forest area. We explore tradeoffs between cultural and regulating services (in particular for fire mitigation) and we link these tradeoffs to different understanding and uses of nature. We find that the stakeholders preferences for cultural purposes and the preservation of the forest often clashes and increases hazard and fire risk. The idea of a cultivated forest landscape has in fact emerged as a strong cultural ecosystem service in Israel, while the transformation of the forest from a less cultivated type improves regulating services, reduces especially fire risk. We conclude that the tradeoffs between cultural and regulating services are a potential measure of hazard risk.

A field survey was conducted in peri urban and urban areas of Hyderabad city of Telangana state. The data was collected from hundred farmers selected from ten mandals by simple random sampling method for the study. The data on feeding and breeding management practices was collected by personal contact by using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study revealed that farmers followed colostrum feeding to new born calves, fed concentrates in soaked form before milking to the lactating animals, practiced hay making, provided extra allowance during advanced pregnancy and fed mineral supplements. Proper heat detection and insemination of the animals at right time was significantly (P&gt;0.01) higher in peri urban areas than urban area. Majority of farmers followed combination of A.I and natural service for mating of their animals. Most of the farmers followed pregnancy diagnosis at three months in the peri urban (82.0%) area than in urban (36.0%) area. Majority of the dairy farmers bred their animals between 3-5 months after calving in urban and peri-urban areas. Overall farmers were well aware of scientific and organized herd management practices.

Tick-borne diseases represent major public and animal health issues worldwide. Ixodes ricinus, primarily associated with deciduous and mixed forests, is the principal vector of causative agents of viral, bacterial, and protozoan zoonotic diseases in Europe. Recently, abundant tick populations have been observed in European urban green areas, which are of public health relevance due to the exposure of humans and domesticated animals to potentially infected ticks. In urban habitats, small and medium-sized mammals, birds, companion animals (dogs and cats), and larger mammals (roe deer and wild boar) play a role in maintenance of tick populations and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. Presence of ticks infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus and high prevalence of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., causing Lyme borreliosis, have been reported from urbanized areas in Europe. Emerging pathogens, including bacteria of the order Rickettsiales (Anaplasma phagocytophilum, “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis,” Rickettsia helvetica, and R. monacensis), Borrelia miyamotoi, and protozoans (Babesia divergens, B. venatorum, and B. microti) have also been detected in urban tick populations. Understanding the ecology of ticks and their associations with hosts in a European urbanized environment is crucial to quantify parameters necessary for risk pre-assessment and identification of public health strategies for control and prevention of tick-borne diseases.

Peri-urban regions are located in the fringes of an existing city and are important in the urban transportation planning process of the city. The present research analyzes the differential impact of socio-demographic factors on the travel behavior of urban and a peri-urban areas. Specifically, the current study, at first, performs a descriptive multivariate mode share comparison between motorized two-wheelers and Non-Motorized Transport (NMT). Further, it estimates a mode choice model and a trip distance model to determine the marginal effects of socio-demographic and transportation system characteristics. Interaction terms are introduced in the utility function of the mode choice model using a peri-urban indicator to delineate the differential impact of socio-demographic factors in urban and peri-urban areas. The estimated mode choice model gave a comparatively good fit with the data (47 and 27.5%). The significance of the interaction terms indicated a difference in the influence of travel characteristics between urban and peri-urban areas. Gender has a significant influence on the mode choice with females in both urban and peri-urban region having a positive disposition toward NMT. In both regions, an increase in the travel distance reduced the use of non-motorized modes and increased the use of private vehicles. From a social equity perspective, there was a huge scope for promotion of public transport and non-motorized transport in the peri-urban areas. Further, paratransit could be contemplated as a solution to overcome the poor connectivity in the radial routes of peri-urban areas.KeywordsSocio-demographicsMode choiceNon-motorized transportMotorized two-wheelersPeri-urban areas

Background and Aim:Eid al-Adha is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Muslims in Indonesia. Roadside livestock traders open their stalls during the Eid al-Adha period. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and behaviors of roadside livestock traders in urban and peri-urban areas in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.Materials and Methods:In-depth interviews with 36 roadside livestock traders were conducted on August 7-23, 2018 in urban (n=20) and peri-urban (n=16) areas of Yogyakarta. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive and statistical analysis using one-way analysis of variance.Results:The results indicate that the trading activities of roadside livestock traders in urban areas last longer (p<0.05) than in peri-urban areas. No difference was found in the opening day of stalls, the number of buyers, and trends in animal prices set by roadside livestock traders in urban and peri-urban areas. Most traders sell sheep and goats, buy livestock at the animal market, and only open their stalls during Eid al-Adha. Prices are high in this period, and buyers directly visit the stalls. A significant difference exists in the selling price of livestock between Eid al-Adha and ordinary days (non-festival), and most roadside traders benefit from the Eid al-Adha momentum.Conclusion:Significant similarities exist among roadside livestock traders during the Eid al-Adha period in urban and peri-urban areas of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Sheep are more desirable than goats and cattle in this period, and Eid al-Adha generates a high profit for roadside livestock traders.

Surrounding residential greenness and mental health: Findings from the French CONSTANCES cohort.

Groundwater quality in the Pearl River Delta after the rapid expansion of industrialization and urbanization: Distributions, main impact indicators, and driving forces

In West Africa, malaria is one of the leading causes of disease-induced deaths. Existing studies indicate that as urbanization increases, there is corresponding decrease in malaria prevalence. However, in malaria-endemic areas, the prevalence in some rural areas is sometimes lower than in some peri-urban and urban areas. Therefore, the relationship between the degree of urbanization, the impact of living in urban areas, and the prevalence of malaria remains unclear. This study explores this association in Ghana, using epidemiological data at the district level (2015-2018) and data on health, hygiene, and education. We applied a multilevel model and time series decomposition to understand the epidemiological pattern of malaria in Ghana. Then we classified the districts of Ghana into rural, peri-urban, and urban areas using administratively defined urbanization, total built areas, and built intensity. We converted the prevalence time series into cross-sectional data for each district by extracting features from the data. To predict the determinant most impacting according to the degree of urbanization, we used a cluster-specific random forest. We find that prevalence is impacted by seasonality, but the trend of the seasonal signature is not noticeable in urban and peri-urban areas. While urban districts have a slightly lower prevalence, there are still pockets with higher rates within these regions. These areas of high prevalence are linked to proximity to water bodies and waterways, but the rise in these same variables is not associated with the increase of prevalence in peri-urban areas. The increase in nightlight reflectance in rural areas is associated with an increased prevalence. We conclude that urbanization is not the main factor driving the decline in malaria. However, the data indicate that understanding and managing malaria prevalence in urbanization will necessitate a focus on these contextual factors. Finally, we design an interactive tool, 'malDecision' that allows data-supported decision-making.

Canine American visceral leishmaniasis and American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) cases have been recorded in Espírito Santo do Pinhal. The aim of this study was to gather knowledge of the sand fly community and its population ecology within the municipality. Captures were made weekly over a period of 15 months in the urban, periurban and rural areas of the municipality, using automatic light traps. A total of 5,562 sand flies were collected, comprising 17 species. The most abundant species were Nyssomyia whitmani and Pintomyia pessoai in the rural area, Lutzomyia longipalpis and Ny. whitmani in the periurban area and Lu. longipalpis in the urban area. The highest species richness and greatest index species diversity were found in the rural area. The similarity index showed that urban and periurban areas were most alike. Lu. longipalpis was found in great numbers during both dry and humid periods. The presence of dogs infected with Leishmania infantum chagasi in the urban area indicates a high risk for the establishment of the disease in the region. A high abundance of Ny. whitmani and Pi. pessoai in the rural and periurban areas indicates the possibility of new cases of ACL occurring in and spreading to the periurban area of Espírito Santo do Pinhal.

Prevalence of anti- Neospora caninum antibodies in dogs from urban, periurban and rural areas of the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais—Brazil