{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T16:59:46Z","timestamp":1790614786613,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,10]],"date-time":"2020-11-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1604966400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007546","name":"ANSES","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PREV-TBE-TIQRO"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PREV-TBE-TIQRO"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007546","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) depends mainly on a fragile mode of transmission, the co-feeding between infected nymphs and larvae on rodents, and thus persists under a limited set of biotic and abiotic conditions. If these conditions change, natural TBEV foci might be unstable over time. We conducted a longitudinal study over seven years in a mountain forest in Alsace, Eastern France, located at the western border of known TBEV distribution. The objectives were (i) to monitor the persistence of TBEV circulation between small mammals and ticks and (ii) to discuss the presence of TBEV circulation in relation to the synchronous activity of larvae and nymphs, to the densities of questing nymphs and small mammals, and to potential changes in meteorological conditions and deer densities. Small mammals were trapped five times per year from 2012 to 2018 to collect blood samples and record the presence of feeding ticks, and were then released. Questing nymphs were collected twice a year. Overall, 1344 different small mammals (Myodes glareolus and Apodemus flavicollis) were captured and 2031 serum samples were tested for the presence of antibodies against TBEV using an in-house ELISA. Seropositive rodents (2.1%) were only found from 2012 to 2015, suggesting that the virus disappeared afterwards. In parallel, we observed unusual variations in inter-annual nymph abundance and intra-annual larval activity that could be related to exceptional meteorological conditions. Changes in the densities of questing nymphs and deer associated with the natural stochastic variations in the frequency of contacts between rodents and infected ticks may have contributed to the endemic fadeout of TBEV on the study site. Further studies are needed to assess whether such events occur relatively frequently in the area, which could explain the low human incidence of TBE in Alsace and even in other areas of France.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens9110930","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,10]],"date-time":"2020-11-10T14:10:41Z","timestamp":1605017441000},"page":"930","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Disappearance of TBEV Circulation among Rodents in a Natural Focus in Alsace, Eastern France"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Laure","family":"Bournez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6944-7474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gerald","family":"Umhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8833-2717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marie","family":"Moinet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Marc","family":"Boucher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Michel","family":"Demerson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christophe","family":"Caillot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"L\u00e9o","family":"Legras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elodie","family":"Devillers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e9 Mixte de Recherche Biologie Mol\u00e9culaire et Immunologie Parasitaire (UMR BIPAR), ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale V\u00e9t\u00e9rinaire d\u2019Alfort, Paris-Est Sud, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8903-0027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yves","family":"Hansmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement en Maladies Infectieuses, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France"},{"name":"Unit\u00e9 de Recherche 7290, Virulence Bact\u00e9rienne Pr\u00e9coce: Fonctions Cellulaires et Contr\u00f4les de L\u2019infection Aigu\u00eb et Subaigu\u00eb, Universit\u00e9 de Strasbourg, F-67000 Strasbourg, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aur\u00e9lie","family":"Velay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire de Virologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Strasbourg, F-67091 Strasbourg, France"},{"name":"Unit\u00e9 Mixte de Recherch\u00e9 Immunorhumathologie Mol\u00e9culaire (UMR IRM_S) 1109, Universit\u00e9 de Strasbourg, INSERM, 67000 Strasbourg, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5632-7796","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00e9line","family":"Richomme","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3010-6968","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Moutailler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e9 Mixte de Recherche Biologie Mol\u00e9culaire et Immunologie Parasitaire (UMR BIPAR), ANSES, INRAE, Ecole Nationale V\u00e9t\u00e9rinaire d\u2019Alfort, Paris-Est Sud, 94700 Maisons-Alfort, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0957-1320","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Franck","family":"Bou\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health &amp; Safety (ANSES), CS 40009, 54220 Malz\u00e9ville, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Tick-borne encephalitis in Europe, 2012 to 2016","volume":"23","author":"Spiteri","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ttbdis.2010.10.007","article-title":"Tick-borne encephalitis 2010: Epidemiology, risk areas, and virus strains in Europe and Asia\u2014An overview","volume":"2","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ticks Tick-Borne Dis."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"743","DOI":"10.1086\/587530","article-title":"The basic reproduction number for complex disease systems: Defining R0 for tick-borne infections","volume":"171","author":"Hartemink","year":"2008","journal-title":"Am. 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