Skip to main content

Overview

This resource aims to build on the work Forest Research led on assessing and communicating animal disease risks in the countryside.

This project has involved a literature review and the production of a Briefing Note aimed at environment sector organisations on how they might raise awareness and communicate to their staff and the visitors to the land they own or manage, about Lyme disease. The work is also linked to the development of an internal awareness raising campaign for staff developed by Forestry Commission Scotland.

The review of literature was undertaken to explore how the risk of Lyme disease is communicated and what behaviours can reduce risk, and how these can be encouraged, and enabled.

Lyme disease is the most common tick borne disease in Europe. People can be bitten by ticks when they come into contact with vegetation or animals on which ticks are not fully attached. Contact with ticks can take place in parks, gardens, woodlands, the wider countryside, and anywhere with dense vegetation. Checking for ticks after visiting these places is important to reduce risk.

The objectives of for developing this resource were to:

  • Build on the research on assessing and communicating animal disease risk funded by the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme
  • Adapt the risk communication framework developed in the above project for use with staff of environment sector organisations and visitors to the land managed by these organisations
  • Produce an accessible Briefing Note based on current evidence
  • Provide the list of references identified in the Briefing Note.

The Briefing Note primarily focuses on providing a risk communication framework that can be used by environment sector organisations to consider and develop communication on what behaviours and preventative measures can be taken by staff and visitors to reduce the risk of contracting Lyme disease.

The framework enables organisations to consider – behaviours, the target audience, where information should be provided and how. It also helps organisations to consider points of intervention for communication and action, for example before a visit to nature, during a visit, after a visit.

The framework could be used directly with staff and visitors to involve them in co-creating and co-producing appropriate communication and awareness raising approaches.

Forestry and Land Scotland: Check for ticks

Accessing and communicating animal disease risk in the countryside

Visitor Safety in the Countryside Group

University of the Highland and Islands check for ticks

Full reference list

References are outlined in the text of the Briefing Note but not given in full due to space restrictions. Therefore the full reference list is given below.

AENISHAENSLIN, C., MICHEL, P., RAVEL, A., GERN, L., MILORD, F., WAAUB, J.P. and BÉLANGER, D. (2015). Factors associated with preventive behaviors regarding Lyme disease in Canada and Switzerland: a comparative study. BMC Public Health 15, 185.

BRITISH INFECTION ASSOCIATION (2011). The epidemiology, infection, and treatment of Lyme borreliosis in United Kingdom patients: A position statement by British Infection Association. Journal of Infection 62, 329–38.

DEFRA. (2008). A framework for pro-environmental behaviours. [PDF] Defra, London. Accessed July 2017.

DEN BOON, S., SCHELLEKENS, J. F. P., SCHOULS, L. M., SUIJKERBUIJK, A. W. M., DOCTERS VAN LEEUWEN, B. and VAN PELT, W. (2004). Doubling of the number of cases of tick bites and Lyme borreliosis seen by general practitioners in the Netherlands. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 148, 665–670.

DOBSON, A., TAYLOR, J. and RANDOLPH, S. (2011). Tick (Ixodes ricinus) abundance and seasonality at recreational sites in the UK: Hazards in relation to fine scale habitat types revealed by complementary sampling methods. Tick and Tick-borne Diseases 2, 67-74.

FORESTRY COMMISSION SCOTLAND. (2017). Check for ticks. [Internet] Accessed July 2017

GILBERT, L., MAFFEY, G., RAMSAY, S.L. and HESTER, A.J. (2012). The effect of deer management on the abundance of Ixodes ricinus in Scotland. Ecological Applications 22, 658–67.

HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (2013). RIDDOR – Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 2013.

HJETLAND, R., ELIASSEN, K.E., LINDBÆK, M., NILSEN, R.M., GRUDE, N. and ULVESTAD, E. (2013). Tick bites in healthy adults from western Norway: Occurrence, risk factors, and outcomes. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases 4, 304–10.

HOOK, S.A., NELSON, C.A. and MEAD, P.S. (2015). U.S. public’s experience with ticks and tick-borne diseases: Results from national HealthStyles surveys. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases 6, 483–8.

MARCU, A., UZZELL, D. and BARNETT, J. (2011). Making sense of unfamiliar risks in the countryside: the case of Lyme disease. Health and Place 17, 843–50.

MILNER, R.M., MAVIN, S. and HO-YEN, D.O. (2009). Lyme borreliosis in Scotland during two peak periods. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 39, 196–9.

MITSCHLER, A., GRANGE, F., LIPSKER, D., JAULHAC, B., PIEMONT, Y., BELANGER, P., PAGNON, X., MAYER, O. and GUILLAUME, J.C. (2004). Knowledge and prevention of tick-bite borreliosis: Survey of the population in Alsace, an endemic area. Annales de Dermatologie et de Venereologie 131, 547–53.

MOWBRAY, F., AMLÔT, R. and RUBIN, G.J. (2014). Predictors of protective behaviour against ticks in the UK: A mixed methods study. Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases 5, 392–400.

MULDER, S., VAN VLIET, A.J.H., BRON, W.A., GASSNER, F. and TAKKEN, W. (2013). High risk of tick bites in Dutch Gardens. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 13, 865–71.

NHS (2015). Lyme disease. [Internet] Accessed May 2017.

NHS INFORM. (2017). Lyme disease. [Internet] Accessed July 2017.

NHS SCOTLAND (2017). Ticks and Lyme disease in Scotland. The Scottish Health Protection Network Lyme disease subgroup – slide pack approved by the network.

O’BRIEN, L., MARCU, A., MARZANO., M., BARNETT, J., QUINE, C. and UZZELL, D. (2012). Situating risk in the context of a woodland visit: a case study on Lyme borreliosis. Scottish Forestry 66, 14–24.

PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND (2014). Lyme disease: guidance, data and analysis. [Internet]Accessed May 2017.

PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND. (2016). Ticks and your health: information about tick bite risks and prevention. [PDF] Accessed June 2017.

QUINE, C., BARNETT, J., DOBSON, A., MARCU, A., MARZANO, M., MOSELEY, D., O’BRIEN, L., RANDOLPH. S, TAYLOR, J. and UZZELL, D. (2011). Frameworks for risk communication and disease management: the case of Lyme disease and countryside users. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 366, 2010–22.

RANDOLPH, S.E. (2001). The shifting landscape of tick-borne zoonoses: Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme borreliosis in Europe. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 356, 1045–56.

SHADICK, N.A., DALTROY, L.H., PHILLIPS, C.B., LIANG, U.S., LIANG, M.H. (1997). Determinants of tick-avoidance behaviours in an endemic area for Lyme disease. American Journal of Preventative Medicine 13, 265–70.

UNIVERSITY OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS. (2017). Check for ticks. [Internet] Accessed June 2017.

VALENTE, S.L., WEMPLE, D., RAMOS, S., CASHMAN, S.B. and SAVAGEAU, J.A. (2015). Preventive behaviors and knowledge of tick-borne illnesses: results of a survey from an endemic area. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice May-Jun 21, (3), E16–23. DOI: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000098.

VISITOR SAFETY GROUP.  Ticks and Lyme disease.

Download

Published
2017
Publication type
Briefing notes
Contacts
Principal Social Scientist
Forestry Staff Liz OBrien RzWQYOa.2e16d0ba.fill 600x600 2