Cent Eur J Public Health 2009, 17(3):139-145 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3550

Vertical Distribution of the Tick Ixodes ricinus and Tick-borne Pathogens in the Northern Moravian Mountains Correlated with Climate Warming (Jeseníky Mts., Czech Republic)

Milan Daniel1, Jan Materna2, Václav Hönig3,4, Ladislav Metelka5, Vlasta Danielová1, Josef Harčarik2, Stanislava Kliegrová5, Libor Grubhoffer3,4
1 National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Krkonoše National Park Authority, Krkonoše Museum, Vrchlabí, Czech Republic
3 Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
4 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic
5 Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

A study of the vertical distribution of the common tick Ixodes ricinus and tick-borne pathogens - tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. - was performed in the highest part of the Jeseníky mountain area (the Hrubý Jeseník Mts. with the highest summit Praděd, 1,491 m above see level). Altogether 1,253 specimens of all tick stages (607 larvae, 614 nymphs, 8 females and 24 males) were collected at the altitude 990-1,300 m above sea level on 12 collection sites by the flagging method. Altogether 1,207 ticks (8 females, 24 males, 568 nymphs and 607 larvae) were examined for the presence of tick-borne encephalitis virus and B. burgdorferi s.l. None of the samples contained TBEV, 35 samples (6% of adult ticks, 5% of nymphs, 0.7% of larvae) were positive for B. burgdorferi s.l. The most prevalent genospecies were B. afzelii (44%), B. garinii (28%), less frequent were B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (5%), B. valaisiana (3%). The rather large number of ticks (in absolute numbers as well as recounted to the index: average number of nymphs/worker/collection hour) and the presence of all developmental stages clearly demonstrate that there are viable local tick populations in all the sites, and that recorded ticks were not randomly individuals brought into higher altitudes by birds or game animals. The results are compared with the long-term (2002-2007) monitoring of the tick altitudinal distribution in the Krkonoše Mts. and the conditions, which allow ticks to establish local populations up to the timberline in both mountain areas, are discussed. Simultaneously, changes in climatic conditions (especially the air temperature) monitored at 3 meteorological stations in the area of the Jeseníky Mts. were compared with the records from another 8 stations in other mountain areas in the Czech Republic. A very similar statistically significant trend of increasing mean air temperatures during the last three decades is found at all analyzed stations. The trend is most pronounced in the spring and summer months with the highest activity of I. ricinus ticks.

Keywords: Ixodes ricinus, Borrelia burgdorferi genospecies, tick-borne encephalitis virus, vertical distribution, climate warming

Received: February 25, 2009; Revised: May 14, 2009; Accepted: May 14, 2009; Published: September 1, 2009  Show citation

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Daniel M, Materna J, Hönig V, Metelka L, Danielová V, Harčarik J, et al.. Vertical Distribution of the Tick Ixodes ricinus and Tick-borne Pathogens in the Northern Moravian Mountains Correlated with Climate Warming (Jeseníky Mts., Czech Republic). Cent Eur J Public Health. 2009;17(3):139-145. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3550. PubMed PMID: 20020603.
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