Distribution of tick-borne diseases in China

Abstract

As an important contributor to vector-borne diseases in China, in recent years, tick-borne diseases have attracted much attention because of their increasing incidence and consequent significant harm to livestock and human health. The most commonly observed human tick-borne diseases in China include Lyme borreliosis (known as Lyme disease in China), tick-borne encephalitis (known as Forest encephalitis in China), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (known as Xinjiang hemorrhagic fever in China), Q-fever, tularemia and North-Asia tick-borne spotted fever. In recent years, some emerging tick-borne diseases, such as human monocytic ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, and a novel bunyavirus infection, have been reported frequently in China. Other tick-borne diseases that are not as frequently reported in China include Colorado fever, oriental spotted fever and piroplasmosis. Detailed information regarding the history, characteristics, and current epidemic status of these human tick-borne diseases in China will be reviewed in this paper. It is clear that greater efforts in government management and research are required for the prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of tick-borne diseases, as well as for the control of ticks, in order to decrease the tick-borne disease burden in China.

Figure 1

Distribution of tick-borne diseases across China. The tick-borne diseases are highly prevalent in North of China, including Xinjiang Uygur, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjian, Liaoning, Jilin, Beijing provinces/ autonomous regions/ municipalities (P/A/M), as well as Northeastern China including Yunnan province. The corresponding vector borne diseases reported in these P/A/M are indicated in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Types of tick-borne diseases reported in China’s provinces/ autonomous regions/municipalities (P/A/M). There are more than 13 types of tick-borne diseases are reported in different provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities in China, including TBE (tick-borne encephalitis/Forest Encephalitis in China), CCHF (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever/Xinjiang hemorrhagic fever in China), CF (Colorado fever), LB (Lyme borreliosis), QF (Q-fever), T (tularemia), NATBSF (North-Asia tick-borne spotted fever), TBRF (Tick-borne relapsing fever), HGA (human granulocytic anaplasmosis), HME( human monocytic ehrlichiosis), NBVI ( Novel Bunya virus infection), P (piroplasmosis), and OSF (oriental spotted fever).