A1 Journal article (refereed)
Comparing the Climatic and Landscape Risk Factors for Lyme Disease Cases in the Upper Midwest and Northeast United States (2020)

Dong, Y., Huang, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, X. Y., & La, Y. (2020). Comparing the Climatic and Landscape Risk Factors for Lyme Disease Cases in the Upper Midwest and Northeast United States. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), Article 1548. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051548

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Dong, Yuting; Huang, Zheng; Zhang, Yong; Wang, X.G. Yingying; La, Yang

Journal or series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

ISSN: 1661-7827

eISSN: 1660-4601

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 17

Issue number: 5

Article number: 1548

Publisher: MDPI

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051548

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/68132

Abstract

Lyme disease, recognized as one of the most important vector-borne diseases worldwide, has been increasing in incidence and spatial extend in United States. In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis. Currently, many studies have been conducted to identify factors influencing Lyme disease risk in the Northeast, however, relatively few studies focused on the Upper Midwest. In this study, we explored and compared the climatic and landscape factors that shape the spatial patterns of human Lyme cases in these two regions, using the generalized linear mixed models. Our results showed that climatic variables generally had opposite correlations with Lyme disease risk, while landscape factors usually had similar effects in these two regions. High precipitation and low temperature were correlated with high Lyme disease risk in the Upper Midwest, while with low Lyme disease risk in the Northeast. In both regions, size and fragmentation related factors of residential area showed positive correlations with Lyme disease risk. Deciduous forests and evergreen forests had opposite effects on Lyme disease risk, but the effects were consistent between two regions. In general, this study provides new insight into understanding the differences of risk factors of human Lyme disease risk in these two regions.

Keywords: borreliosis; Lyme disease; Borrelia; occurence; environmental factors; local climate; forest types; landscape

Free keywords: Borrelia burgdorferi; climate; forest fragmentation; Lyme disease

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2020

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