ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2013
Research on the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens--methodological principles and caveats.
Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
105 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review on the Occurrence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- The Prevalence ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2021Pooled it
- An updated meta-analysis of the distribution and prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in ticks in Europe.International journal of health geographics · 2018Pooled it
- A Global, High-Resolution Index of Risk and Exposure of Humans to Ticks, Lyme Borreliosis, and Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Molecular diversity of tick-associated Rickettsia species in multiple provinces of Zambia.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2026Article
- Tick Diversity Associated with the European Brown Hare (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Molecular surveillance ofInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2026Article
- Diversity and Occurrence of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Small Ruminants and Their Ticks in Sardinia: Implications for Animal Health and Zoonotic Risk.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial COI and 16S rDNA barcoding improve species delimitation of ixodid ticks in Peninsular Malaysia.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- The niche ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- Investigation of Tick Species and Seasonal Population Dynamics in Sheep, Cattle, and Goats in Ağrı Province, Türkiye.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Efficacy of amitraz acaricide footbaths against cattle and goat tick infestations on sites in Highveld and Lowveld regions of Zimbabwe.Parasite epidemiology and control · 2026Article
- Habitat-Specific Patterns of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Urban and Suburban Landscapes.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Long-term ecological surveillance of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and SFTSV in Dangjin, South Korea (2018-2024).Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Scientist's Opinion on Climate Change and Hard Ticks (Ixodidae).Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal and tissue-specific dynamics of bacterial communities in adult femaleFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Spatial Heterogeneity of Tick-Borne Pathogens Outpaces Genetic Structuring in Anatolian Dermacentor reticulatus Populations.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2026Article
- Prevalence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Bacterial Communities Harboured by Amblyomma Hebraeum Infesting Small Stock in Mahikeng city, South Africa.Microbial ecology · 2025Article
45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Interest in tick-transmitted pathogens has experienced an upsurge in the past few decades. Routine application of tools for the detection of fragments of foreign DNA in ticks, together with a high degree of interest in the quantification of disease risk for humans, has led to a marked increase in the number of reports on the eco-epidemiology of tick-borne diseases. However, procedural errors continue to accumulate in the scientific literature, resulting in misleading information. For example, unreliable identification of ticks and pathogens, erroneous interpretations of short-term field studies, and the hasty acceptance of some tick species as vectors have led to ambiguities regarding the vector role of these arthropods. In this review, we focus on the ecological features driving the life cycle of ticks and the resulting effects on the eco-epidemiology of tick-transmitted pathogens. We review the factors affecting field collections of ticks, and we describe the biologically and ecologically appropriate procedures for describing tick host-seeking activity and its correlation with environmental traits. We detail the climatic variables that have biological importance on ticks and explain how they should be properly measured and analyzed. We also provide evidence to critically reject the use of some environmental traits that are being increasingly reported as the drivers of the behavior of ticks. With the aim of standardization, we propose unambiguous definitions of the status of hosts and ticks regarding their ability to maintain and spread a given pathogen. We also describe laboratory procedures and standards for evaluating the vectorial capacity of a tick or the reservoir role of a host. This approach should provide a coherent framework for the reporting of research findings concerning ticks and tick-borne diseases.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.