Game Animal Density, Climate, and Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Finland, 2007-2017

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 Atmos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2020-12, Vol.26 (12), p.2899-2906
Main Authors: Dub, Timothée, Ollgren, Jukka, Huusko, Sari, Uusitalo, Ruut, Siljander, Mika, Vapalahti, Olli, Sane, Jussi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal population density
Animals
Arachnids
arboviruses
Asymptomatic
Big game animals
climate
Deer
Disease
Encephalitis
Finland
Game and game-birds
Game Animal Density, Climate, and Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Finland, 2007–2017
Generalized linear models
Health aspects
Infections
Infectious diseases
Laboratories
Meningitis
Natural resources
Patients
Public health
Risk factors
Software
Statistics
Tick-borne encephalitis
Variables
Wildlife diseases
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/EID2612.191282