Trial lecture: 'The role of ecology in One Health'
Time and place: June 25, 2024 10:15 AM, Nucleus, Bikuben, Kristine Bonnevies hus
Main research findings:
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Small mammals are important hosts to Ixodes ricinus larvae and maintain natural reservoirs of Borrelia afzelii, the most common genospecies of Borrelia-bacteria that causes Lyme disease in Europe. In my PhD project, I aimed to provide quantitative data on the role of small mammals as hosts to I. ricinus ticks and Borrelia-reservoirs to aid our understanding of Lyme disease emergence in northern Europe. By using data on pathogen infection in captured small mammals and their harboured ticks from Son, Vestby (2014-2022), I found that both tick infestations and pathogen infection prevalence in hosts increased markedly during the study period. The increase indicates a corresponding increase in the production of infected tick nymphs from fed and infected larvae, which in turn is directly linked to Lyme disease hazard for humans. Moreover, I found positive effects of warm years on the number of ticks on small mammals and that the proportion of infected hosts were lower in peak rodent years. Taken together, my thesis provides quantitative field-based evidence on the role of rodents and shrews in the Lyme disease cycle in northern Europe and provides important insights to explain the Lyme disease emergence in northern Europe in the last decades.
Adjudication committee
Senior Lecturer Eva R. Kallio, University of Jyväskylä
Assoc. Prof. Lars Mørch Korslund, University of Agder
Prof. L. Asbjørn Vøllestad, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Chair of defense
Prof. Tore Slagsvold, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Prof. Atle Mysterud, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
Senior Researcher Hildegunn Viljugrein, Norwegian Veterinary Institute
Researcher Inger Maren Rivrud, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
Postdoctoral fellow Jason Lee Anders, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo