Lyme disease is the most common tick borne disease in Europe and results from an infection with the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. The disease occurs in humans following a bite from a tick Ixodes ricinus which has been infected with this organism. Although the deer is the principal carrier of the tick in most European countries, woodland birds are the main reservoir hosts in Ireland, and unlike Central Europe, rodents are hardly ever involved. Ticks spend the greater part of their life cycle free within their habitat where they are vulnerable to environmental factors including temperature and rainfall. Changed climatic conditions may therefore impact on the incidence of vector borne disease, not only because the ticks live outside their host in the environment for a part of their lives, but, in addition, alterations in habitats and species behaviour of the host may also result from climate change in Ireland1. Significant changes have occurred in the Irish climate in recent times, and are comparable to global changes: an increase of 0.5°C in mean temperatures has been observed in the 20th century, the rise being most marked in the last decade; A change in the incidence of Lyme disease from present levels may therefore be expected as temperatures increase as a result of climate change.
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