Ecological and socioeconomic factors associated with globally reported tick-borne viruses

Comprehensive Summary

This research presented by Sambo et al. examined how socioeconomic and ecological variables affected the report rate of tick-borne diseases, especially in under-resourced countries. Environmental and social factors (n = 24) were collected from each country through which the researchers assembled a global database of tick-borne viruses that had been announced. Machine learning model boosted regression trees were used to evaluate the data and rank the variables based on the most superior factor in anticipating tick-borne virus reporting across different countries. The results showed that the strongest socioeconomic factors were inequality in lower incomes, greater competence and infrastructure for animal and human virus detection, and strong health systems that would allow for transparent reporting of these viruses. Subarctic environments were also another prominent variable in tick-borne disease reporting, acknowledging the role climate plays on prevalence of tick-borne diseases. Sambo et al. recognized the need for better surveillance infrastructure and how global health inequity factors obscure the true risk of disease given the inability for under-developed countries to accurately report the incidences.

Outcomes and Implications

Artificial intelligence can help promote clinical awareness of disease outbreaks by anticipating their incidence and allowing healthcare workers to address the situation in earlier windows of opportunity. Not only that, but the use of AI to further the “One Health” approach across the globe, where people, animals, and environment are in medical harmony, could be the next big step towards lower disease incidence and significantly healthier societies. A health that prioritizes and cares for the living of this planet could be one of the most effective ways to increase the accuracy of detection of surveillance of disease incidence across the globe.