Collaborative Research: Testing Alternative Hypotheses for Gradients in Lyme disease in the Eastern U.S.: Climate, Host Community and Vector Genetic Structure

莱姆病（LD）是美国最常见的媒介传播疾病，大多数病例是从黑脚蜱获得的。这些蜱虫遍布美国东部，然而，93%的LD病例发生在东北部和上中西部的十个州。 对于在黑脚蜱出没的某些地区缺乏LD这一令人困惑的现象，人们提出了各种解释，但尚未达成一致意见。由于缺乏解释，美国许多地区的公民和医疗保健提供者面临着不断扩大的蜱虫种群，他们感到不确定性和困惑。他们坚定地致力于向科学家、公共卫生机构、土地管理者和公众传播研究成果。 他们将使用现场、实验室和计算机建模研究来测试有关LD分布的三个关键假设。 关于蜱虫-宿主关系、蜱虫季节性生物学和蜱虫遗传学的数据将从美国东部四个广泛分离的地区的实地收集。建模和分子工具的应用将揭示美国不同地区LD风险变化的生态和进化过程。以及帮助预测气候变化如何改变这种风险。 此外，对决定受感染蜱虫分布和丰度的因素的进一步了解将有助于人类疾病的诊断和治疗，蜱虫控制措施以及关于LD和其他蜱传疾病风险的区域差异的公众教育。

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S., with most cases acquired from blacklegged ticks. These ticks are found throughout the eastern U.S., yet 93% of LD cases occur in ten states found in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Various explanations have been proposed for the puzzling absence of LD in some areas where blacklegged ticks occur, but no agreement has been reached. The absence of an explanation contributes to uncertainty and confusion felt by citizens and healthcare providers faced with expanding tick populations in many parts of the U.S. The research team represents five universities as well as national and international governmental agencies. They have a strong commitment to disseminating research findings to scientists, public health agencies, land managers, and the public. They will test three key hypotheses concerning LD distribution using field, laboratory, and computer modeling studies. Data on tick-host relationships, tick seasonal biology, and tick genetics will be collected from field sites in four widely-separated regions of the eastern U.S. Application of modeling and molecular tools will reveal the ecological and evolutionary processes responsible for the variation in LD risk in different regions of the U.S., as well as help predict how climate change could alter this risk. Furthermore, this improved understanding of factors determining the distribution and abundance of infected ticks will assist in human disease diagnosis and treatment, tick control measures, and public education on regional differences in the risk of LD and other tick-borne disease.