Tick-Bone Infections in the North Sea Region - A competence network to improve public service delivery based on a one health perspective full application in Call 9 (NORTH THICK).

Ticks are the most important vectors for transmitting diseases, which may cause deaths and are frequently associated with long-term suffering and high costs. During the last decades, ticks carrying disease-causing microorganisms in humans and animals have increased in numbers and spread to new areas. Thus, the number of people and animals afflicted by tick-borne diseases are on the rise. The reasons are complex and may include climate change, increased urbanisation and other human influences on ecosystems. It is challenging for health services and authorities to be updated on optimal strategies for prevention and management of Borrelia infections and TBE, and to keep up with newer tickborne microorganisms and diseases, and to give adequate information to a concerned public. Evidence-based and cost-effective strategies for control of tick-borne diseases are currently the weakest chain in surveillance. NorthTick aims to meeting these challenges regarding tick-borne diseases, by providing a multi-disciplinary and transnational joint effort to improve public health service delivery regarding: (i) risk assessment (ii) efficient preventive measures (iii) optimal diagnostic strategies (iv) best patient management recommendations NorthTick will enhance cooperation between academic institutions, national/regional health authorities, patient organizations and other NGOs, industry and policy makers to develop and exchange knowledge on how to curb the rise in tick-borne diseases and associated burden on society.

Keywords:LYME BORRELIOSIS, ZOONOTIC INFECTIONS, TICK

Disciplines:Terrestrial ecology, Infectious diseases, Parasitology

Project type:Collaboration project