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，大多数病例来自黑腿蜱。这些蜱虫遍布美国东部，但93%的LD病例发生在东北部和中西部上游的10个州。对于黑腿蜱出现的一些地区为何没有LD这一令人费解的现象，人们提出了各种各样的解释，但没有达成一致。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蜱虫数量不断增加的不确定性和困惑。研究小组代表了五所大学以及国家和国际政府机构。它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。他们将通过实地、实验室和计算机建模研究来验证关于LD分布的三个关键假设。蜱-宿主关系、蜱季节性生物学和蜱遗传学的数据将从美国东部四个广泛分离的地区的野外站点收集。应用建模和分子工具将揭示导致美国不同地区LD风险变化的生态和进化过程，并有助于预测气候变化如何改变这种风险。此外，进一步了解受感染蜱的分布和数量将有助于人类疾病的诊断和治疗，蜱控制措施，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.