Ecological changes are recognized as an important driver behind
the emergence of infectious diseases. The prevalence of infection
in ticks depends upon ecological factors that are rarely taken
into account simultaneously. Our objective was to investigate the
influence of forest fragmentation, vegetation, adult tick hosts,
and habitat on the infection prevalence of three tick-borne
bacteria – Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma
phagocytophilum, and Rickettsia sp of the Spotted Fever Group –
in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks, taking into account tick
characteristics. Questing nymphs and adults were sampled in 61
pastures and neighbouring woodlands in central France. Ticks were
tested by PCR by pools of nymphs and individual adults. The
individual infection prevalence was modeled using multivariate
regression.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20453131&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks