Associating Land Cover Changes with Patterns of Incidences of Climate-Sensitive Infections: An Example on Tick-Borne Diseases in the Nordic Area.

Some of the climate-sensitive infections (CSIs) affecting humans are zoonotic vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme borreliosis (BOR) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), mostly linked to various species of ticks as vectors. Due to climate change, the geographical distribution of tick species, their hosts, and the prevalence of pathogens are likely to change. A recent increase in human incidences of these CSIs in the Nordic regions might indicate an expansion of the range of ticks and hosts, with vegetation changes acting as potential predictors linked to habitat suitability.

Lethal Outcome of Leptospirosis in Southern Russia: Characterization of Isolated from a Deсeased Teenager.

This article describes a lethal case of leptospirosis that occurred in Southern Russia. The strain was isolated and characterized using a microscopic agglutination test, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, targeted PCR, and high-throughput sequencing. We show that molecular and mass-spectrometry methods can be an alternative to conventional methods of leptospirosis diagnostics and study, which require highly qualified staff and can be performed only at specialized laboratories.

Coxiella burnetii in ticks and wild birds.

Unlabelled: The study objective was to get more information on C. burnetii prevalence in wild birds and ticks feeding on them, and the potentialities of the pathogen dissemination over Europe by both.

Materials: Blood, blood sera, feces of wild birds and ticks removed from those birds or from vegetation were studied at two sites in Russia: the Curonian Spit (site KK), and the vicinity of St.

Migratory birds along the Mediterranean - Black Sea Flyway as carriers of zoonotic pathogens.

At the crossroad between Europe, Asia, and Africa, Bulgaria is part of the Mediterranean - Black Sea Flyway (MBSF) used by millions of migratory birds. In this study, bird species migrating through Bulgaria were investigated as carriers of zoonotic pathogens. In total, 706 birds belonging to 46 species were checked for the presence of various bacterial pathogens (Campylobacter, Yersinia, Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Francisella tularensis, Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Brucella spp.