Abstract
Land use changes frequently occur from extraction of natural resources, human population expansion, and/or natural disasters. Such environmental alterations can increase the risk of arthropod-borne diseases, including those transmitted by ticks. Knowledge on the influence of land use change and risk of tick-borne diseases is limited. The “brown dog tick”, Rhipicephalus linnaei is considered the most widespread tick species in the world and represents an important vector of pathogens causing human diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis. The current study aimed to quantify and associate land use change linked to deforestation with presence of R. linnaei in Belize, Central America. Adult ticks were collected from animal hosts in San Lazaro and Indian Church communities of the Orange Walk district in January 2020. Samples were transported to the Belize Vector and Ecology Center (BVEC) for morphological identification with species confirmation conducted using Oxford Nanopore Technology sequencing. Deforestation within a 200 km circumference of each community was characterized by quantifying the change in forested areas over a 5-year period (2017-2022) using satellite imagery. Results indicated a higher presence of R. linnaei in San Lazaro (91.5%) compared to Indian Church (77.2%), associated with an increased level of deforestation in San Lazaro (31.2%) compared to Indian Church (4.6%). Findings from this study are expected to contribute knowledge of tick-borne disease risk in Belize for public health awareness and guide tick control campaigns for at-risk communities.
Link to full publication: https://scientia.nd.edu/publication/