The Challenge of Lyme Borreliosis: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in France.

IF 3.5 3区生物学 Q1 BIOLOGY

Biology-Basel Pub Date : 2025-09-17 DOI:10.3390/biology14091286

Cynthia Philibert, Joana Ferrolho, Mark S Gibson, Sérgio Ramalho de Sousa, Hugo Vilhena, Sofia Anastácio

{"title":"The Challenge of Lyme Borreliosis: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in France.","authors":"Cynthia Philibert, Joana Ferrolho, Mark S Gibson, Sérgio Ramalho de Sousa, Hugo Vilhena, Sofia Anastácio","doi":"10.3390/biology14091286","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Lyme borreliosis (LB), a zoonotic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and transmitted by Ixodes ricinus, is increasingly relevant in France, yet data on public awareness and prevention are limited. This cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of companion-animal owners (CAOs) and veterinarians regarding LB. Online questionnaires were distributed between January and April 2023, yielding 159 valid CAO responses and 48 responses from veterinarians. Among owners, 95% reported outdoor access for their pets, 73.9% had observed ticks, and 88.8% used ectoparasiticides. However, only 16.4% reported LB vaccination, and just 38% recognized key canine clinical signs. Veterinarians frequently suspected LB (70%) but confirmed diagnoses less often (39.6%), relying mainly on clinical signs and the results of rapid tests. While prevention through antiparasitic use was common, communication between veterinarians and owners regarding LB was inconsistent. Despite this, most owners reported compliance with veterinary guidance. These findings reveal good preventive habits but identify knowledge gaps and underdiagnosis. Enhancing veterinary-client communication and promoting a One Health approach could improve LB prevention and control in France.","PeriodicalId":48624,"journal":{"name":"Biology-Basel","volume":"14 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12467624/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biology-Basel","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14091286","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis (LB), a zoonotic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and transmitted by Ixodes ricinus, is increasingly relevant in France, yet data on public awareness and prevention are limited. This cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of companion-animal owners (CAOs) and veterinarians regarding LB. Online questionnaires were distributed between January and April 2023, yielding 159 valid CAO responses and 48 responses from veterinarians. Among owners, 95% reported outdoor access for their pets, 73.9% had observed ticks, and 88.8% used ectoparasiticides. However, only 16.4% reported LB vaccination, and just 38% recognized key canine clinical signs. Veterinarians frequently suspected LB (70%) but confirmed diagnoses less often (39.6%), relying mainly on clinical signs and the results of rapid tests. While prevention through antiparasitic use was common, communication between veterinarians and owners regarding LB was inconsistent. Despite this, most owners reported compliance with veterinary guidance. These findings reveal good preventive habits but identify knowledge gaps and underdiagnosis. Enhancing veterinary-client communication and promoting a One Health approach could improve LB prevention and control in France.

查看原文本刊更多论文

莱姆病的挑战：法国的知识、态度和实践。

莱姆伯氏疏螺旋体病（LB）是一种由感应伯氏疏螺旋体引起并由蓖麻伊蚊传播的人畜共患疾病，在法国日益流行，但有关公众认识和预防的数据有限。本横断面研究评估了伴侣动物主人（CAOs）和兽医对LB的知识、态度和实践（KAP）。在线问卷于2023年1月至4月分发，获得159份有效的CAO回复和48份兽医回复。在主人中，95%的人报告他们的宠物有户外活动，73.9%的人观察到蜱虫，88.8%的人使用了体外寄生虫剂。然而，只有16.4%的人报告接种了LB疫苗，只有38%的人认识到关键的犬临床症状。兽医经常怀疑LB(70%)，但确诊较少（39.6%），主要依靠临床体征和快速检查结果。虽然通过使用抗寄生虫进行预防是常见的，但兽医和业主之间关于LB的沟通并不一致。尽管如此，大多数宠物主人都表示遵守了兽医的指导。这些发现揭示了良好的预防习惯，但也指出了知识差距和诊断不足。加强兽医客户沟通和推广“同一个健康”方法可以改善法国LB的预防和控制。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Biology-Basel Biological Science-Biological Science

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

4.80%

发文量

1618

审稿时长

11 weeks

期刊介绍： Biology (ISSN 2079-7737) is an international, peer-reviewed, quick-refereeing open access journal of Biological Science published by MDPI online. It publishes reviews, research papers and communications in all areas of biology and at the interface of related disciplines. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Electronic files regarding the full details of the experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material.