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VICCI (Vector-borne Infectious Diseases in Climate Change Investigations)

In relation to the “Gesundheitliche Folgen des Klimawandels in Bayern�? (Effect of Climate Change on Health in Bavaria), the collaborative research project, „Vector-borne Infectious Diseases in Climate Change Investigations�? (VICCI-Study), was launched in summer 2008 by the Bavarian State Ministry for Environment and Public Health.

VICCI is an interdisciplinary research project funded through 2011. Participants from the Sections Infectiology, Parasitology and Epidemiology at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority as well as the National Reference Centre for Borrelia (NRZ) conduct interdisciplinary research together with the Institute of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology of the Ludwig-Maximilians University (Munich), the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (Neuherberg), the Institute of Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene at the University of Erlangen (Erlangen), the Department of Biogeography at the University of Bayreuth (Bayreuth) and the Bavarian Forest National Park (Grafenau).

Introduction

The effects of ongoing climate change are thought to include heat waves, increased air pollution or the increased dispersion of pollens, affecting primarily the elderly, as well as both children and adults suffereing from chronic health disease or compromised immune systems. Indirect effects are attributable to vector-borne infectious diseases transmitted by vectors such as bitig insects or ticks, thus affecting the whole population. Increasing temperatures are thought to create new ecosystems both for vectors and for reservoir vertebrate hosts of infectious diseases. Global warming could thereby support the northward spread of vectors, pathogens and reservoir hosts and serve as a foundation for emerging infectious diseases until now restricted to tropical and subtropical climates.

A striking example is the northward and westward spread of the West Nile Virus in North America over the past nine years. In Europe, the spread of the invasive species Aedes albopictus in the Mediterranean region offers another salient example of the same phenomenon. Previously restricted seasonally and regionally to the Mediterranean it has now arrived north of the Alps. In 2007 Aedes albopictus transmitting Chikungunya-virus caused an outbreak affecting 200 persons in northern Italy. This northward spread is thought to be fostered by increased temperatures providing the environment for efficient viral replication combined with the northward spread of the vector Aedes albopictus.

Moreover, ticks, which are endemic to the moderate climates of the northern hemisphere ranging from 40 to 60°northern latitude, might spread to higher altitudes as well as to more northerly latitudes due to climate change. Warmer winters could support the survival of Ixodes ricinus as well as that of the reservoir vertebrate hosts, thus resulting in an increase of populations and, relatedly, altitudinal and latitudinal expansion. The spread of tick-borne encephalitis within Germany in 2007 is considered an important indication of the spread of Ixodes ricinus. Additionally, there are reports of the appearance and spread of Dermacentor reticulatus in Germany. Associated with Dermacentor reticulatus are newly arising health risks, such as Babesiosis in dogs or Rickettsiosis in humans.

The extent to which there will be climate-change–related effects on health will depend on the adaptive capacities of the affected populations. In addition to infrastructural requirements, such as political programmes and technical measures, the development of surveillance systems and prediction models are important prerequisites to confront future climate-change-related health risks.

Aim of the Study

To date there are only a few epidemiological studies and virtually no longitudinal analysis relating to the distribution of vector-borne and zoonotic infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to assess the distribution and dynamics of vector-borne and zoonotic infectious diseases and to develop models to identify potential hot spots for the spread of vectors or vector-borne as well as zoonotic infectious diseases.

The projects listed will contribute to a better understanding of the current epidemiological conditions as well as to the future development of vector-borne and zoonotic infectious diseases in Bavaria. The projects will provide data to assess climate-change-related health risks, thus allowing for improvements in the planning and implementation of counter-measures on the part of the various elements within the public health services.

The VICCI-study will assess the current threat arising from vector-borne infectious diseases in different Bavarian regions. Important variables affecting vector-populations and accompanying infection rates will be assessed by statistical analysis, in particular with respect to climate data. Additionally, biogeographic models will be employed to identify pathogens which might be extremely sensitive to climate-change.

This interdisciplinary approach of human- and veterinary microbiology, infectiology, epidemiology and biogeography will provide data on those Bavarian regions which might be susceptible to the spread of these pathogens.

Projects

Project 1:

Prospective study on the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. species in Ixodes ricinus in Bavaria

Dr. Volker Fingerle, Dr. Christiane Klier and PD Dr. Dr. Andreas Sing;
National Reference Centre for Borrelia, Section Infectiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Oberschleißheim, Germany

Project 2:

Modelling on the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in Bavarian local recreation areas in respect to local environmental factors and microenvironmental variations in infection rates in ticks

PD Dr. Dr. Heinz Rinder, Philipp Bozem* and Marvin Lüpke*,
Section Parasitology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany, * Fakultät für Forstwissenschaft, Technische Universität München

Project 3:

Study and epidemiological modelling on tick-borne infections in Bavaria

Dr. Philippe de Mendonça and Prof. Dr. Kurt Pfister,
Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, LMU, Munich, Germany

Project 4:

Risk assessment on tick-borne bacterial infections in urban Bavarian parks

Sabine Schorn, Dr. Cornelia Silaghi and Prof. Dr. Kurt Pfister,
Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, LMU, Munich, Germany.
In cooperation with Michael Höhle, Institut of Statistics, LMU, Munich, Germany

Project 5:

Study on the presence of rodent-transmitted zoonoses along a climate gradient in the Bavarian Forest National Park

PD Dr. Sandra Essbauer, Dr. Gerhard Dobler; Bundeswehr Institude of Microbiology, Munich; Dr. Jörg Müller and Dr. Claus Bässler, Bavarian Forest National Park, Grafenau

In cooperation with:
Susanne Schex, Dr. Volker Fingerle and PD Dr.Dr. Andreas Sing, Section Infectiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL), Oberschleißheim, Germany

Project 6:

Autochthonous Leishmaniasis in Bavaria: Studies of Vector Prevalence and of Animal Reservoirs

Dipl. Biol. Simone Häberlein, Kirstin Castiglione, Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Schleicher and Prof. Dr. Christian Bogdan;
Mikrobiologisches Institut - Klinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen

Project 7:

Biogeographical analysis of health-relevant species and projection of their spreading tendencies under changing climatic conditions in Bavaria

Prof. Dr. Carl Beierkuhnlein, Stephanie Thomas, Dominik Fischer
Department of Biogeography, University of Bayreuth

Project 8.1:

Study Center

Dr. Volker Fingerle, Dr. Christiane Klier, Thomas Praßler and PD Dr. Andreas Sing;
Section Infectiology, National Reference Centre for Borreliae, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim

Project 8.2:

Population-based epidemiological risk assessment for lyme disease, hantavirus and leishmaniasis in Bavaria in the context of climate change

Prof. Dr. Manfred Wildner, Dr. Christina Klinc, Dr. Wolfgang Hautmann und *PD Dr.Dr. Andreas Sing, Section GE4 Public Health and *GE2 Section Infectiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany

Projekt 8.3:

Project Coordination:

Dr. Volker Fingerle, Dr. Christiane Klier and PD Dr. Andreas Sing
Section Infectiology, National Reference Centre for Borreliae, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim

Contact:

Dr. Volker Fingerle
Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority National Reference Centre for Borreliae
85764 Oberschleißheim
Germany
Tel.: +49 89 / 31560 - 870
e-mail: Volker.Fingerle@lgl.bayern.de

PD Dr. Dr. Andreas Sing
Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority National Reference Centre for Borreliae
85764 Oberschleißheim
Germany
Tel.: +49 89 / 31560 - 814
e-mail: Andreas.Sing@lgl.bayern.de