{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]],"date-time":"2025-11-05T14:31:18Z","timestamp":1762353078009,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,13]],"date-time":"2021-07-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1626134400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Risk perception, together with the adoption of measures to prevent tick bites, may strongly influence human exposure to ticks and transmitted pathogens. We created a questionnaire to evaluate how people perceive the health risk posed by ticks in an area recently invaded by these arthropods, in the western Italian Alps. Moreover, through a collaborative effort with park rangers and physicians, we investigated which tick species bite humans and their infection with pathogens (Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and spotted-fever group Rickettsiae). Apart from two Dermacentor marginatus bites, we identified Ixodes ricinus (n = 124) as the main species responsible for tick bites. The investigated pathogens infected 25.4% of tested I. ricinus. The evaluation of the engorgement rate of biting I. ricinus revealed that they had been likely feeding on humans for 24 h or more, suggesting a high probability of pathogen transmission. Indeed, the questionnaires revealed that people infrequently adopt preventive measures, such as inspecting the body for ticks, although most respondents claimed that ticks are a threat to human health. Having suffered from previous tick bites was positively associated with the adoption of personal protection measures. Given the increasing incidence of tick-borne diseases in the region, the public should be better informed about the possibility of being bitten by infected ticks in order to mitigate the risk.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci8070131","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,13]],"date-time":"2021-07-13T22:25:31Z","timestamp":1626215131000},"page":"131","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Low Risk Perception about Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in an Area Recently Invaded by Ticks in Northwestern Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4458-8294","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aitor","family":"Garcia-Vozmediano","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giorgia","family":"Giglio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisa","family":"Ramassa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Cozie, Via Fransu\u00e0 Fontan, 1, 10050 Salbertrand, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fabrizio","family":"Nobili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette del Po Torinese, Corso Trieste 98, 10024 Moncalieri, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2201-8802","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Tomassone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, L.go Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19906","DOI":"10.2807\/ese.16.27.19906-en","article-title":"Lyme borreliosis in Europe","volume":"16","author":"Rizzoli","year":"2011","journal-title":"Euro Surveill"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1800201","article-title":"Tick-borne encephalitis in Europe, 2012 to 2016","volume":"23","author":"Spiteri","year":"2018","journal-title":"Euro Surveill"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Estrada-Pe\u00f1a, A., Mihalca, A.D., and Petney, T.N. 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