Grant: Project Grant

Lyme disease is rapidly emerging in Canada due to recent climate and environmental changes. At the same time, there is an elevated risk of periodic mosquito-borne West Nile virus epidemics due to ongoing climate variability. Despite the existence of transmission 'hotspots' for these vector-borne pathogens, the link between environmental risk (where infected vectors - i.e. ticks or mosquitoes - are found in space and time) and epidemiological risk (the incidence of human disease) is poorly understood at a practical scale. This project aims to uniquely integrate epidemiological and entomological surveillance datasets using spatial analytic and epidemiological methods, thus providing vital information on the socio-ecological determinants of Lyme disease and West Nile virus risk at the individual and population scales. Risk models and maps will be developed and validated as practical tools for local public health officer application, to improve the prevention of Lyme disease and arboviral encephalitis in Canadians. It is intended that this methodology for public health risk assessment can be applied in other public health units that collect routine surveillance data, and to other emerging disease systems, in order to predict the impact of vector-borne diseases and develop appropriate response plans.