Early detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus spatial distribution and activity in the province of Trento, northern Italy

Rizzoli, Annapaola and Neteler, Markus and Rosà, Roberto and Versini, Walter and Cristofolini, Antonio and Bregoli, Marco and Buckley, Alan and Gould, Ernest A. (2007) Early detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus spatial distribution and activity in the province of Trento, northern Italy. Geospatial health , 1 (2). pp. 169-176. ISSN 1970-7096

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Abstract

New human cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) have recently been recorded outside the recognised foci of this disease, i.e. in the province of Trento in northern Italy. In order to predict the highest risk areas for increased TBE virus activity, we have combined cross-sectional serological data, obtained from 459 domestic goats, with analysis of the autumnal cooling rate based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) data. A significant relationship between finding antibodies against the virus in serum (seroprevalence) in goats and the autumnal cooling rate was detected, indicating that the transmission intensity of the virus does not only vary spatially, but also in relation to climatic factors. Virus seroprevalence in goats was correlated with the occurrence of TBE in humans and also with the average number of forestry workers’ tick bites, demonstrating that serological screening of domestic animals, combined with an analysis of the autumnal cooling rate, can be used as early-warning predictors of TBE risk in humans.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	tick-borne encephalitis virus, Ixodes ricinus, early-warning, risk assessment, spatial analysis, MODIS, land surface temperature, autumnal cooling, serology.
Subjects:	500 Scienze naturali e Matematica > 590 Animali (Zoologia) (Classificare qui la Storia naturale e la Biologia descrittiva degli animali, le opere interdisciplinari sugli animali) 600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici)
Depositing User:	Emanuele Zinevrakis
Date Deposited:	21 Jun 2010 12:19
Last Modified:	08 Jul 2010 14:08
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/2801

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