A walk in the park: Assessing the role of urbanization in New Jersey's tick-borne disease landscape

Urban forests are a rapidly expanding ecosystem, often serving as a principal interface between humans and nature. New Jersey exemplifies this synergy between human development and natural preservation, leading the contiguous US in both population density and proportion of designated parkland. While the benefits of urban forests are certainly numerous, the risks associated with these habitats are poorly understood. Of particular concern is the mounting threat of tick-borne illness to surrounding residential communities. The relevance of traditional tick-borne pathogen ecology models within urban forests is unclear— these areas may have different assemblages of ticks and hosts, with the potential for significantly different tick-borne disease cycles. To address this knowledge gap, we have initiated a pilot study evaluating the risk to humans and animals of various tick-borne diseases throughout a broad selection of urban and rural forests. Over the course of two years, ticks were routinely sampled from 30 forests across the state. Adult and nymphal blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) were tested via quantitative PCR (qPCR) for five pathogens – Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, and Powassan Virus. Early results of these tests indicate a significantly elevated prevalence of both Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in urban forests. We anticipate that our findings will provide a foundation for more targeted investigations and management programs in NJ and beyond.