Data release: targeted systematic literature search for tick and tick-borne pathogen distributions in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1901 to 2020

Abigail A Lilak; David B Pecor; Graham Matulis; Alexander M Potter; Rachel N Wofford; Mary F Kearney; Stephanie Mitchell; Fatima Jaradat; Arisa Kano; Dawn M Zimmerman; James M Hassell; Bersissa Kumsa; Maureen Kamau; Yvonne-Marie Linton; Michael E von Fricken

doi:10.1186/s13071-023-06086-4

Data release: targeted systematic literature search for tick and tick-borne pathogen distributions in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1901 to 2020

Parasit Vectors. 2024 Feb 22;17(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s13071-023-06086-4.

Authors

Abigail A Lilak^#^{1

2}, David B Pecor^#^{3

4

5}, Graham Matulis^{1

2}, Alexander M Potter^{3

4

5}, Rachel N Wofford⁶, Mary F Kearney⁷, Stephanie Mitchell³, Fatima Jaradat⁶, Arisa Kano⁶, Dawn M Zimmerman^{4

8}, James M Hassell^{4

8}, Bersissa Kumsa⁹, Maureen Kamau^{3

10}, Yvonne-Marie Linton^#^{3

4

5}, Michael E von Fricken^#^{11

12}

Affiliations

¹ One Health Center of Excellence, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
² Department of Environmental & Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
³ Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU), Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Suitland, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution-National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA.
⁵ One Health Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
⁶ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
⁷ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁸ Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁹ Department of Pathology & Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University, Bishoftu, Ethiopia.
¹⁰ Mpala Research Center, Nanyuki, Kenya.
¹¹ One Health Center of Excellence, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, 2055 Mowry Road, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. [email protected].
¹² Department of Environmental & Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Surveillance data documenting tick and tick-borne disease (TBD) prevalence is needed to develop risk assessments and implement control strategies. Despite extensive research in Africa, there is no standardized, comprehensive review.

Methods: Here we tackle this knowledge gap, by producing a comprehensive review of research articles on ticks and TBD between 1901 and 2020 in Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Over 8356 English language articles were recovered. Our search strategy included 19 related MeSH terms. Articles were reviewed, and 331 met inclusion criteria. Articles containing mappable data were compiled into a standardized data schema, georeferenced, and uploaded to VectorMap.

Results: Tick and pathogen matrixes were created, providing information on vector distributions and tick-pathogen associations within the six selected African countries.

Conclusions: These results provide a digital, mappable database of current and historical tick and TBD distributions across six countries in Africa, which can inform specific risk modeling, determine surveillance gaps, and guide future surveillance priorities.

Keywords: Chad; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Kenya; Systematic review; Tanzania; Tick-borne pathogens; Ticks; Uganda.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Africa South of the Sahara
Animals
Ethiopia
Kenya
Tanzania
Tick-Borne Diseases* / epidemiology
Ticks*

Grants and funding

ProMIS ID # P0031_21_WR to YML/Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD) Global Emerging Infections Surveillance (GEIS) Branch