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. 2018 May 2;11(1):277.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-018-2860-2.

Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian forestry workers and associated risk factors

Mathilde De Keukeleire  1   2 , Annie Robert  3 , Victor Luyasu  3 , Benoît Kabamba  4 , Sophie O Vanwambeke  5
Affiliations

Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Belgian forestry workers and associated risk factors

Mathilde De Keukeleire et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: As forest is the preferred environment for ticks, forestry workers are exposed to tick bites and tick-borne diseases. We assessed the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) antibodies and investigated, using an integrated landscape approach, the individual and environmental factors associated with the seroprevalence of Bb in Belgian forestry workers, a high-risk group in Belgium.

Methods: A group of 310 Belgian forest workers was examined to assess the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia IgG antibodies. Using principal component analysis and binary logistic regression, the joint effects of individual characteristics and environmental characteristics were examined.

Results: Sixty-seven of the 310 workers were seropositive for Lyme disease (LD), leading to a seroprevalence of 21.6%. The seroprevalence was higher among forest workers visiting forests more frequently (P = 0.003) or who reported over 100 tick bites (P-value < 0.001). The intensity of tick bites and the use of protection measures against tick bites have a positive impact on LD seroprevalence while the quantity of shadow from trees at ground level had a negative one.

Conclusions: This study showed that forest workers are a population at risk for LD and, by extension, at risk for various tick-borne diseases. In addition to the role of the environment, our results also showed the importance of considering exposure when predicting the risk of infection by Bb.

Keywords: Belgium; Borrelia burgdorferi; Exposed groups; Forestry workers; Lyme disease; Risk; Serology; Seroprevalence; Tick.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Université catholique de Louvain Medical School, Belgian Registry No. B403201525645. Written informed consent was obtained from each study participant. Records were anonymized before access for information within the context of this study.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Borrelia IgG seroprevalence of forest workers depending on the territorial where they work
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Absolute contributions of variables to dimensions (The darker the blue and bigger the circle, the higher the weight of the variable in a dimension)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Biplot of variables: Age, Gender, Work in silvicultural field (work), Frequency of forest visit (f_visit), Duration of forest visit (d_visit), Use of protective measures (protect), Use of protective clothing (clothes), Use of repellents (repellents), Tick bites during work (bites), Number of tick bites (n_bites), Frequency of tick bites (f_bites)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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