Tackling zoonotic disease whilst rewilding Britain’s national parks, starting with Lyme borreliosis

We have been investigating ecological determinants of Lyme borreliosis (LB) hazard in the South Downs National Park and potential Planetary Health based interventions. This was our first step to developing win-win interventions to reduce zoonotic disease hazard whilst rewilding Britain's national parks.  

Background. Lyme borreliosis (LB) is tick-borne and if untreated can cause skin, cardiac, nervous system and musculoskeletal disease. UK annual diagnoses have more than trebled over the last two decades. Two of the ten areas in England and Wales where LB infection is most frequent are encompassed in the South Downs National Park (SDNP). Elsewhere increased wildlife populations have been implicated in rising tick-borne disease, setting up a potential conflict between biodiversity and human health. Given the key objectives of Britain's national parks include enhancing wildlife and encouraging public enjoyment of the countryside, such conflict would be problematic.  

Project status. Hazard mapping across the SDNP is complete following: multi-site tick collection by drag-sampling, volunteer tick collection from culled deer, and GIS analysis combining our fieldwork results with records from five other data sources (recent and historic). We are presently (1) conducting a systematic review to determine which interventions that aim to decrease LB hazard at non-domestic sites can be effective without negatively affecting ecosystem health, and (2) assessing public attitudes to vaccination for LB and TBE. 

Next stage work. We will be trialling methods to support rewilding habitats whilst reducing tick-borne disease hazard. 

Find out more. On this page you can read or download  our article on Tick Hazard in the South Downs National Park  and our LB systematic review's rationale and protocol (published in Environmental Evidence).