Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians
Background: Lyme disease (LD) is a common tick-borne disease in Europe. Diverse factors at various scales determine the spatial distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi infection risk and a better understanding of those factors in a spatially explicit framework is needed for disease management and preve...
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2016-11-01
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doaj-dd5b9312e3df41469828df949f21f0072020-11-24T22:30:48ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInfection Ecology & Epidemiology2000-86862016-11-016011010.3402/iee.v6.3279332793Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinariansMathilde De Keukeleire0Annie Robert1Benoît Kabamba2Elise Dion3Victor Luyasu4Sophie O. Vanwambeke5 Earth and Life Institute (ELI), Georges Lemaitre Center for Earth and Climate Research, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique Pôle Epidémiologie et Biostatistique, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Faculté de Santé Publique (FSP), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Bruxelles, Belgique Division of Clinical Biology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Bruxelles, Belgique ARSIA (Association Régionale de Santé et d'Identification Animales), Ciney, Belgique Pôle Epidémiologie et Biostatistique, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Faculté de Santé Publique (FSP), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Bruxelles, Belgique Earth and Life Institute (ELI), Georges Lemaitre Center for Earth and Climate Research, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiqueBackground: Lyme disease (LD) is a common tick-borne disease in Europe. Diverse factors at various scales determine the spatial distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi infection risk and a better understanding of those factors in a spatially explicit framework is needed for disease management and prevention. While the ecology of ticks and the landscape favoring their abundance have been extensively studied, the environmental conditions favoring an intense contact with susceptible humans, including groups at risk, are sparse. The aim of this study is to assess which individual and environmental factors can favor B. burgdorferi infection in a Belgian group professionally at risk. Methods: Serological results of 127 veterinarians and farmers enrolled in this study were analyzed, taking into account their municipality of residence. Using binary logistic regression and considering interaction terms, the joint effects of landscape composition and configuration, and forest and wildlife management were examined. Results: Seven of the 127 workers were seropositive for LD, leading to a seroprevalence of 5.51%. Seropositivity was higher in older persons. The proportion of forest and semi-natural habitats and wetland had a positive impact on LD seroprevalence while arable land–grassland ecotones had a negative one. Our results confirmed the need to consider complex interactions between landscape variables in order to model risk. Conclusions: Our data show that LD has to be considered as a risk for farmers and veterinarians. Rather than focusing either on ecological aspects of tick and pathogen distribution or on purely epidemiological aspects such as individual risk factors, our model highlights the role of human–environment interactions in LD risk assessment.http://www.infectionecologyandepidemiology.net/index.php/iee/article/view/32793/pdf_93Lyme diseaseB. burgdorferi infectionrisk assessmentspatial modelingBelgium |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mathilde De Keukeleire Annie Robert Benoît Kabamba Elise Dion Victor Luyasu Sophie O. Vanwambeke |
spellingShingle |
Mathilde De Keukeleire Annie Robert Benoît Kabamba Elise Dion Victor Luyasu Sophie O. Vanwambeke Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians Infection Ecology & Epidemiology Lyme disease B. burgdorferi infection risk assessment spatial modeling Belgium |
author_facet |
Mathilde De Keukeleire Annie Robert Benoît Kabamba Elise Dion Victor Luyasu Sophie O. Vanwambeke |
author_sort |
Mathilde De Keukeleire |
title |
Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians |
title_short |
Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians |
title_full |
Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians |
title_fullStr |
Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians |
title_full_unstemmed |
Individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian farmers and veterinarians |
title_sort |
individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of borrelia burgdorferi in belgian farmers and veterinarians |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
series |
Infection Ecology & Epidemiology |
issn |
2000-8686 |
publishDate |
2016-11-01 |
description |
Background: Lyme disease (LD) is a common tick-borne disease in Europe. Diverse factors at various scales determine the spatial distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi infection risk and a better understanding of those factors in a spatially explicit framework is needed for disease management and prevention. While the ecology of ticks and the landscape favoring their abundance have been extensively studied, the environmental conditions favoring an intense contact with susceptible humans, including groups at risk, are sparse. The aim of this study is to assess which individual and environmental factors can favor B. burgdorferi infection in a Belgian group professionally at risk. Methods: Serological results of 127 veterinarians and farmers enrolled in this study were analyzed, taking into account their municipality of residence. Using binary logistic regression and considering interaction terms, the joint effects of landscape composition and configuration, and forest and wildlife management were examined. Results: Seven of the 127 workers were seropositive for LD, leading to a seroprevalence of 5.51%. Seropositivity was higher in older persons. The proportion of forest and semi-natural habitats and wetland had a positive impact on LD seroprevalence while arable land–grassland ecotones had a negative one. Our results confirmed the need to consider complex interactions between landscape variables in order to model risk. Conclusions: Our data show that LD has to be considered as a risk for farmers and veterinarians. Rather than focusing either on ecological aspects of tick and pathogen distribution or on purely epidemiological aspects such as individual risk factors, our model highlights the role of human–environment interactions in LD risk assessment. |
topic |
Lyme disease B. burgdorferi infection risk assessment spatial modeling Belgium |
url |
http://www.infectionecologyandepidemiology.net/index.php/iee/article/view/32793/pdf_93 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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