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Climate differentially impacts ticks infected and uninfected with Borrelia burgdorferi
Broughton, Heather Crews, Arielle Lilly, Marie Sambado, Samantha Salomon, Jordan Lawrence, Alexandra Ring, Kacie Clark, Jacoby Grace Shaw Summers, Shannon
Broughton, Heather
Crews, Arielle
Lilly, Marie
Sambado, Samantha
Salomon, Jordan
Lawrence, Alexandra
Ring, Kacie
Clark, Jacoby
Grace Shaw
Summers, Shannon
Abstract
Climate change continues to alter the behavior and distribution of species worldwide, with major ramifications for the transmission and risk of infectious diseases, including those caused by zoonotic vector-borne pathogens. This study explores the potential implications of climate change for one such pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi (the causative agent of human Lyme disease), in Ixodes pacificus ticks of the far-western United States. Nymphal tick infection prevalence and density are compared against several metrics for climate, while also accounting for habitat fragmentation, mammalian species richness, and rodent tick burden to eliminate confounding variables. Findings show that climate extremes, such as those forecast with climate change, correlate with a reduction in B. burgdorferi prevalence in nymphal ticks despite nominal impacts on uninfected tick density, contrasting traditional hypotheses that these changes will increase vector-borne pathogens.
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2025-07-18
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Science Advances
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CC BY-NC
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Heather Broughton et al. ,Climate differentially impacts ticks infected and uninfected with Borrelia burgdorferi.Sci. Adv.11,eads2181(2025).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ads2181
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads2181