RCG One Health approach to tick-borne disease control through manipulation of reservoir host communities at landscape scale

英国的2050年净零排放政策包含了大胆的计划，即每年种植数百万棵树，以扩大林地和森林的土地覆盖范围，这不仅有助于固碳，还有助于在气候变化时降低当地气温。虽然这是一个合理的目标，但土地利用的这种变化可能会对不受欢迎的非本地物种和疾病的传播产生影响。因此，必须对这些计划进行评估，以制定强有力的战略，并避免我们为减缓气候变化和实现净零社会而采取的干预措施产生意想不到的后果。灰松鼠在英国是一种入侵物种，对当地红松鼠的保护产生了有害影响，树皮剥落对树木和森林造成的破坏估计每年给英国经济造成3700万英镑的损失。灰松鼠现在分布在英国大部分地区，是许多栖息地中占主导地位的小型哺乳动物，也是以它们为食的蜱虫的重要宿主。以灰松鼠为食的蜱虫会在松鼠的血液中感染，并将这些感染传播给被感染蜱虫叮咬的人，尤其是莱姆病。感染莱姆病的人数在英国各地都在增长，在苏格兰、英格兰西南部和英格兰南部都是热点。英国许多地区正在努力控制灰松鼠，以帮助受到灰松鼠威胁的本地红松鼠种群。这个项目得到了公众的广泛支持，并试图通过避孕措施人道地控制灰松鼠。一些专家认为，清除灰松鼠本身可能会降低莱姆病的风险，但这还没有得到证实。这是因为其他野生动物也会被蜱虫吃掉，而且就疾病风险而言，目前还不清楚灰松鼠被清除后会发生什么。我们的项目计划通过确定灰松鼠数量减少时会发生什么，以及这会如何影响蜱虫和疾病来回答这个问题。我们计划通过确定吸引和排斥蜱虫的因素来寻找控制或监测蜱虫的新方法。我们还计划开发预测模型，预测未来英国的林地和森林覆盖率会增加，气候也会发生变化，以及这对灰松鼠种群、它们所携带的蜱虫和疾病意味着什么。最后，我们计划与公众接触，特别是那些试图拯救红松鼠的人，以及更广泛的公众，以及他们对松鼠、蜱虫和莱姆病等传染病的态度，以确保我们了解人们的担忧，以及如何最好地应对不断变化的环境和气候。

The UK's Net Zero 2050 policy contains bold plans to plant millions of trees each year to expand landcover in woodlands and forests, not only helping to sequester carbon but also helping to lower local temperatures as the climate changes. While this is a valid ambition, such changes in land use may have implications for the spread of unwanted non-native species and disease. As such these plans must be evaluated to develop a robust strategy and avoid unintended consequences from our interventions to mitigate climate change and achieve a net zero society.The grey squirrel is an invasive species in the UK, with detrimental impacts on the conservation of the native red squirrel and with bark stripping damage to trees and forests that is estimated to cost the UK economy £37 million per year. Grey squirrels, now distributed through most of Great Britain, are the dominant small mammal in many habitats and important hosts of ticks that feed on them. The ticks that feed on grey squirrels can pick up infections in the squirrel's blood and can transmit these infections to people bitten by infected ticks, notably Lyme disease. The number of people contracting Lyme disease is growing in all parts of the UK, with hotspots in Scotland, the southwest of England and southern England. Efforts to control grey squirrels are under way in many parts of the UK, to help the native red squirrel populations which are under threat by greys. This programme has wide public support and is trying to control grey squirrels humanely using contraceptives. Some experts have argued that the removal of grey squirrels by itself could result in a reduction in Lyme disease risk, but this has not yet been proven. This is because other wild animals can be fed upon by ticks, and it is not clear what will happen when grey squirrels are removed in terms of disease risk. Our project plans to answer this question by determining what happens when grey squirrel populations are being reduced, and how this affects ticks and diseases. We plan to look at novel ways of controlling or monitoring ticks by determining what attracts and repels them. We also plan to develop predictive models on what would happen as the UK becomes more covered in woodlands and forests in the future where climate is also changing, and what this would mean for grey squirrel populations, and the ticks and diseases they host. Finally we plan to engage with the public, particularly those trying to save the red squirrel, but also the wider public and their attitudes towards squirrels, ticks and infections such as Lyme disease to ensure we understand people's concerns and how best to deal with a changing environment and climate.