Investigation of tick-borne pathogens in Baltic countries

Abstract

Tick-borne diseases are of major importance on human and animal health in the world. Tick-borne diseases are increasingly recognized as important threats to public health in Baltic countires. The ecology and epidemiology of tick-borne diseases are complex and diverse, and affected by the relationship between the pathogen, the host (vector or vertebrate host) and the environment. For today tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Lyme borreliosis are widely distributed and well recognized tick-borne diseases in Baltic States. The geographical and spatial distributions of some European tick vectors have been changing in the last few decades, and new viral, bacterial and protozoan tick-borne pathogens have been detected in former non-endemic areas. During the past two decades D. reticulatus has expanded its range in the Baltic countries, and new localities with D. reticulatus occurrence have been found in Latvia. Canine babesiosis has emerged in Latvia and become widely distributed and quite frequent in Lithuania. Climatic changes, the significant increase of tourism and travel of dogs across Europe have caused an increase in the geographical range of different infections. In recent years Baltic countries have witnessed the introduction of previously unknown human and animal pathogen. In recent years the variability of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in Baltic countries has been investigated. The advances in molecular biology during the last two decades and using of molecular diagnostic techniques have allowed researchers in Baltic countries to better diagnose, trace and characterize pathogens, and have led to the discovery of new vector-borne pathogenic organisms.