Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39601264›Full record

ArticleVeterinary medicine and science2025

An Emerging Role for Ticks as Vectors of Tularaemia in Sweden.

Ellinor Spörndly-Nees, Giulio Grandi, Elina Thorsson, Tomas N Gustafsson, Anna Omazic

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Veterinary medicine and science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Tick Diversity Associated with the European Brown Hare (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Animal modelling with theMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ellinor Spörndly-NeesDepartment of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-6908-4984
Giulio GrandiDepartment of Microbiology, SVA, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-9620-1792
Elina ThorssonDepartment of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, Swedish Veterinary Agency (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-7158-6967
Tomas N GustafssonDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Sunderby Research Unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-4495-8267
Anna OmazicDepartment of Chemistry, Environment and Feed Hygiene, SVA, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-6116-3968

Funding

Albert Hjärre FoundationCounty Council of Norrbotten NLL-933177Jan Skogsborg FoundationSwedish Research Council 2018-03830The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, The Swedish name of the organization is Naturvårdsverket
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe zoonotic bacterium Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularaemia, can be transmitted to humans via multiple routes, including through contact with infected animals, contaminated water or arthropod vectors. Ticks have not previously been described as transmitting the disease in Sweden. Recently, Ixodid tick species have expanded their latitudinal and altitudinal range in Sweden to areas where the disease is endemic. Tularaemia is a cause of growing concern, spreading to new areas in Sweden and infecting hares and humans.

objectivesTo establish whether ticks could be a potential arthropod vector in the transmission of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica in Sweden.

methodsTicks were collected from northern Sweden and screened for F. tularensis. A follow-up study with ticks collected from F. tularensis-positive hares was performed. Ticks were analysed using real-time PCR and a pathological examination was performed on the hares.

resultsF. tularensis subsp. holarctica was identified in ticks from one cat and three F. tularensis-infected hares. Two hares had skin lesions associated with tick bites with intralesional F. tularensis bacteria.

conclusionsF. tularensis subsp. holarctica was isolated from ticks collected from the hares and cat, the first such reports in ticks in Sweden. Identification of the bacteria at the tick bite site and the more chronic character of the skin lesions compared to those of inner organs suggest that the ticks infected the hares. The cat showed no clinical signs of disease, suggesting that its tick was indeed the vector. These new findings suggest that ticks play a role in the transmission of F. tularensis to human and animal hosts in Sweden.

Indexed as

Francisella tularensisTularemiaAnimalsCat DiseasesCatsFemaleIxodidaeMaleSwedencatclimate changeFrancisella tularensisharenorthern hemispheretularaemia

Identifiers

PMID39601264
PMCPMC11600208

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.