Mapping the distributions of blood-sucking mites and mite-borne agents in China: a modeling study.
Infect Dis Poverty
; 11(1): 41, 2022 Apr 09.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35397554
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Emerging mite-borne pathogens and associated disease burdens in recent decades are raising serious public health concerns, yet their distributions and ecology remain under-investigated. We aim to describe the geographical distributions of blood-sucking mites and mite-borne agents and to assess their ecological niches in China.METHODS:
We mapped 549 species of blood-sucking mites belonging to 100 genera at the county level and eight mite-associated agents detected from 36 species of blood-sucking mites in China during 1978-2020. Impacts of climatic and environmental factors on the ecology of 21 predominant vector mites and a leading pathogen, Orientia tsutsugamushi, were assessed using boosted regression tree (BRT) models, and model-predicted risks were mapped. We also estimated the model-predicted number, area and population size of affected counties for each of the 21 mite species in China.RESULTS:
Laelaps echidninus is the leading mite species that potentially affects 744 million people, followed by La. jettmari (517 million) and Eulaelaps stabularis (452 million). Leptotrombidium scutellare is the mite species harboring the highest variety of mite-borne agents including four Rickettsia species and two viruses, followed by Eu. stabularis (2 agents), L. palpale (2) and La. echidninus (2). The top two agents that parasitize the largest number of mite species are O. tsutsugamushi (28 species) and hantavirus (8). Mammalian richness, annual mean temperature and precipitation of the driest quarter jointly determine the ecology of the mites, forming four clusters of major mite species with distinct geographic distributions. High-risk areas of O. tsutsugamushi are mainly distributed in southern and eastern coastal provinces where 71.5 million people live.CONCLUSIONS:
Ecological niches of major mite species and mite-borne pathogens are much more extensive than what have been observed, necessitating expansion of current filed surveillance.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Rickettsia
/
Orientia tsutsugamushi
/
Trombiculidae
/
Tifus por Ácaros
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Infect Dis Poverty
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article