Abstract

Lyme disease, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and hantavirus infections are among the most predominant zoonotic diseases emerging in Europe. The rodent species (yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicolli and bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus), both widely occurring in the forest ecosystems of Trentino, play a central role in the ecology of these infections. We assessed the spatial distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sl., Anaplasma sp., TBE virus, Cowpox virus, Murid Herpesvirus and Hantavirus by serologic and molecular analysis of blood and tissue samples from 367 rodent individuals trapped during 2002. The rodent species, A. flavicollis, (n=238) was found to be infected with most of the pathogens investigated, with infection prevalence ranging from 3.3% for TBE virus to 24.5% for Murid Herpesvirus. The other rodent species, C. glareolus, (n=108) had high infection prevalence for Cowpox virus (40%), but no individuals were infected with TBE virus. Using advanced GIS-based mapping procedures, these findings were combined with other data previously collected and recent serologic analyses of wild and domesticated ungulates and humans to develop risk maps for Trentino.