Dataset Information

Invasive honeysuckle eradication reduces tick-borne disease risk by altering host dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Despite the ubiquity of invasive organisms and their often deleterious effects on native flora and fauna, the consequences of biological invasions for human health and the ecological mechanisms through which they occur are rarely considered. Here we demonstrate that a widespread invasive shrub in North America, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), increases human risk of exposure to ehrlichiosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by bacterial pathogens transmitted by the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Using large-scale observational surveys in natural areas across the St. Louis, Missouri region, we found that white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a preeminent tick host and pathogen reservoir, more frequently used areas invaded by honeysuckle. This habitat preference translated into considerably greater numbers of ticks infected with pathogens in honeysuckle-invaded areas relative to adjacent honeysuckle-uninvaded areas. We confirmed this biotic mechanism using an experimental removal of honeysuckle, which caused a decrease in deer activity and infected tick numbers, as well as a proportional shift in the blood meals of ticks away from deer. We conclude that disease risk is likely to be reduced when honeysuckle is eradicated, and suggest that management of biological invasions may help ameliorate the burden of vector-borne diseases on human health.

SUBMITTER: Allan BF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2973004 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Invasive honeysuckle eradication reduces tick-borne disease risk by altering host dynamics.

Allan Brian F BF Dutra Humberto P HP Goessling Lisa S LS Barnett Kirk K Chase Jonathan M JM Marquis Robert J RJ Pang Genevieve G Storch Gregory A GA Thach Robert E RE Orrock John L JL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20101011 43

Despite the ubiquity of invasive organisms and their often deleterious effects on native flora and fauna, the consequences of biological invasions for human health and the ecological mechanisms through which they occur are rarely considered. Here we demonstrate that a widespread invasive shrub in North America, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), increases human risk of exposure to ehrlichiosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by bacterial pathogens transmitted by the lone star tick (Ambl ...[more]

PMID: 20937859

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Project description:Ticks are efficient vectors of arboviruses, although less than 10% of tick species are known to be virus vectors. Most tick-borne viruses (TBV) are RNA viruses some of which cause serious diseases in humans and animals world-wide. Several TBV impacting human or domesticated animal health have been found to emerge or re-emerge recently. In order to survive in nature, TBV must infect and replicate in both vertebrate and tick cells, representing very different physiological environments. Information on molecular mechanisms that allow TBV to switch between infecting and replicating in tick and vertebrate cells is scarce. In general, ticks succeed in completing their blood meal thanks to a plethora of biologically active molecules in their saliva that counteract and modulate different arms of the host defense responses (haemostasis, inflammation, innate and acquired immunity, and wound healing). The transmission of TBV occurs primarily during tick feeding and is a complex process, known to be promoted by tick saliva constituents. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of TBV transmission are poorly understood. Immunomodulatory properties of tick saliva helping overcome the first line of defense to injury and early interactions at the tick-host skin interface appear to be essential in successful TBV transmission and infection of susceptible vertebrate hosts. The local host skin site of tick attachment, modulated by tick saliva, is an important focus of virus replication. Immunomodulation of the tick attachment site also promotes co-feeding transmission of viruses from infected to non-infected ticks in the absence of host viraemia (non-viraemic transmission). Future research should be aimed at identification of the key tick salivary molecules promoting virus transmission, and a molecular description of tick-host-virus interactions and of tick-mediated skin immunomodulation. Such insights will enable the rationale design of anti-tick vaccines that protect against disease caused by tick-borne viruses.

Project description:BackgroundThe natural transmission cycle of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is enhanced by complex interactions between ticks and key hosts strongly connected to habitat characteristics. The diversity of wildlife host species and their relative abundance is known to affect transmission of tick-borne diseases. Therefore, in the current context of global biodiversity loss, we explored the relationship between habitat richness and the pattern of human TBE cases in Europe to assess biodiversity's role in disease risk mitigation.MethodsWe assessed human TBE case distribution across 879 European regions using official epidemiological data reported to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) between 2017 and 2021 from 15 countries. We explored the relationship between TBE presence and the habitat richness index (HRI1) by means of binomial regression. We validated our findings at local scale using data collected between 2017 and 2021 in 227 municipalities located in Trento and Belluno provinces, two known TBE foci in northern Italy.FindingsOur results showed a significant parabolic effect of HRI on the probability of presence of human TBE cases in the European regions included in our dataset, and a significant, negative effect of HRI on the local presence of TBE in northern Italy. At both spatial scales, TBE risk decreases in areas with higher values of HRI.InterpretationTo our knowledge, no efforts have yet been made to explore the relationship between biodiversity and TBE risk, probably due to the scarcity of high-resolution, large-scale data about the abundance or density of critical host species. Hence, in this study we considered habitat richness as proxy for vertebrate host diversity. The results suggest that in highly diverse habitats TBE risk decreases. Hence, biodiversity loss could enhance TBE risk for both humans and wildlife. This association is relevant to support the hypothesis that the maintenance of highly diverse ecosystems mitigates disease risk.

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Invasive honeysuckle eradication reduces tick-borne disease risk by altering host dynamics.

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Invasive honeysuckle eradication reduces tick-borne disease risk by altering host dynamics.

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