Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and spotted fever group rickettsiae in small rodents and attached ticks in the Northern Apennines, Italy.

Ticks and ear biopsies were collected from wild small rodents in 2011 and 2012 in the northern Apennines (Italy), up to 1650 m above sea level. Apodemus spp. (n = 83) and Myodes glareolus (n = 22) were infested by Ixodes ricinus (192 larvae and two nymphs), Dermacentor marginatus (179 larvae and 29 nymphs), and Ixodes trianguliceps (three larvae and two nymphs).

Analysis of the environmental and host-related factors affecting the distribution of the tick Dermacentor marginatus.

Understanding and responding to the ecological, social and economic conditions that facilitate disease emergence and transmission represents a substantial challenge for epidemiologists and health professionals. In this article we integrate knowledge about the human and the vector population, to provide a context from which to examine the underlying causal factors of D. marginatus-borne diseases emergence in the study area.

Presence of host-seeking Ixodes ricinus and their infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the Northern Apennines, Italy.

Host-seeking ticks were collected in the Northern Apennines, Italy, by dragging at 35 sites, at altitudes ranging from 680 and 1670 m above sea level (asl), from April to November, in 2010 and 2011. Ixodes ricinus (4431 larvae, 597 nymphs and 12 adults) and Haemaphysalis punctata (11,209 larvae, 313 nymphs, and 25 adults) were the most abundant species, followed by Haemaphysalis sulcata (20 larvae, five nymphs, and 13 adults), Dermacentor marginatus (42 larvae and two adults) and Ixodes hexagonus (one nymph). Greatest numbers of ticks were collected at locations characterised by southern exposure and limestone substratum, at altitudes <1400 m asl; I.

Range expansion of Ixodes ricinus to higher altitude, and co-infestation of small rodents with Dermacentor marginatus in the Northern Apennines, Italy.

Immature ticks (Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor marginatus) were collected from small rodents (Apodemus spp. and Myodes glareolus), in the Northern Apennines, Italy, at an altitude up to 1650 m above sea level (a.s.

Rickettsia slovaca in immature Dermacentor marginatus and tissues from Apodemus spp. in the northern Apennines, Italy.

Immature Dermacentor marginatus ticks and tissues from small rodents were tested for infection with Rickettsia slovaca in the northern Apennines, Lucca Province, where tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA) was previously reported in people. Prevalence of infestation with D. marginatus was 30.

Modeling the spread of vector-borne diseases on bipartite networks.

Background: Vector-borne diseases for which transmission occurs exclusively between vectors and hosts can be modeled as spreading on a bipartite network.

Methodology/principal Findings: In such models the spreading of the disease strongly depends on the degree distribution of the two classes of nodes. It is sufficient for one of the classes to have a scale-free degree distribution with a slow enough decay for the network to have asymptotically vanishing epidemic threshold.

Transmission dynamics of Borrelia lusitaniae and Borrelia afzelii among Ixodes ricinus, lizards, and mice in Tuscany, central Italy.

To estimate the basic reproduction number (R(0)) of Borrelia lusitaniae and Borrelia afzelii, we formulated a mathematical model considering the interactions among the tick vector, vertebrate hosts, and pathogens in a 500-ha enclosed natural reserve on Le Cerbaie hills, Tuscany, central Italy. In the study area, Ixodes ricinus were abundant and were found infected by B. lusitaniae and B.

Temporal variations in the usefulness of normalized difference vegetation index as a predictor for Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) in a Borrelia lusitaniae focus in Tuscany, central Italy.

Host-seeking ticks were collected during monthly dragging sessions from November 2004 through October 2006 in Tuscany, central Italy. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which was calculated from Landsat ETM+ 7 remote sensing data recorded in August 2001, was significantly correlated with numbers of host-seeking immature Ixodes ricinus L. (Acari: Ixodidae) during periods of relatively low rainfall such as summer 2005 (Spearman's p = 0.

Borrelia lusitaniae in immature Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) feeding on common wall lizards in Tuscany, central Italy.

Lizards and small rodents were live captured in Tuscany, central Italy, from May through August 2005. Prevalence of infestation by larval Ixodes ricinus L. (Acari: Ixodidae) and mean numbers of larvae per host were not significantly different for common wall lizards, Podarcis muralis Laurenti, and Apodemus spp.