Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB North Sea

Date of latest update: 2024-01-30

Description

Description (EN):

Ticks are the most important vectors for transmitting diseases, which may cause deaths and are frequently associated with long-term suffering and high costs.During last decades, ticks carrying disease-causing microorganisms in humans and animals have increased in numbers and spread to new areas. Thus, the number of people and animals afflicted by tick-borne diseases are on the rise. The reasons are complex and may include climate change, increased urbanisation and other human influences on ecosystems. It is challenging for health services and authorities to be updated on optimal strategies for prevention and management of Borrelia infections and TBE, and to keep up with newer tick-borne microorganisms and diseases, and to give adequate information to a concerned public. Evidence-based and cost-effective strategies for control of tick-borne diseases are currently the weakest chain in surveillance.NorthTick aims to meeting these challenges regarding tick-borne diseases, by providing a multi-disciplinary and transnational joint effort to improve public health service delivery regarding: - risk assessment. - efficient preventive measures. - optimal diagnostic strategies. - best patient management recommendations. NorthTick will enhance cooperation between academic institutions, national/regional health authorities, patient organizations and other NGOs, industry and policy makers to develop and exchange knowledge on how to curb the rise in tick-borne diseases and associated burden on society.

Achievements (EN):

Due to well-functioning collaboration within NorthTick we managed to achieve most of our goals; to improve and develop prevention, clinical and laboratory diagnostics as well as managment of tick-borne diseases (TBD) in the whole NSR. The final NorthTick conference in Inverness, Scotland, in June 2023 was a big success with over 150 participants. These are some of the main acheivements: Borrelia miyamotoi should be considered an emerging disease that warrants increased awareness. New “hot spots” for TBE virus was discovered in the NSR The citizen science projects invited the general public to collect ticks and send them to NorthTick researchers. Recruitment was very successful including a massive jamboree of more than 40,000 scouts! Risk maps for the probability of encountering ticks in Denmark and Norway were published. More than 13 000 members of the public have contributed so far. Ticks and tick-borne diseases are often associated with the rural countryside. The “Ticks in the City” activities increased the focus and knowledge about ticks and tick.borne diseases in urban areas. We made advances towards better and higher quality laboratory diagnostics. The assesment of IgG and IgM antibodies in Borrelia-diagnostics gave different outcomes between beneficiaries when the costs and medical benefits were considered. However, it was concluded that IgM results should be interpreted with great caution. A pilot peptide assay to differentiate between current and past infection of Borrelia was completed. A prototype antibody assay that may help to distinguish between the three main types of disease-causing Borrelia bacteria in the NSR, was developed and evaluated. For the first time in history Neoehrlichia mikurensis was cultivated in a laboratory. This is a great achievement. Genome analysis of this bacterium greatly aids future work to develop serological assays for this emerging TBD. Research on the pathological mechanisms of Borrelia miyamotoi has facilitated the development of antibody based diagnostics The first human cases of Borrelia miyamotoi disease were diagnosed in Scandinavia and the first cases of Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) were detected in UK, thanks to knowledge transfer between beneficiaries within NorthTick. A new rare Tick-Borne Disease caused by the bacterium Spiroplasma ixodetis was discovered in Sweden. Previous cases were detected in Germany and France. A consesus document developed in dialogue with patient organisations: “Tick-borne diseases in the North Sea Region - a comprehensive overview and recommendations on diagnostic, treatment and management strategies”, will be publicly available in 2024. Research and knowledge transfer from NorthTick has shown that for patients with long-term complaints after TBDs, a centralized multidisciplinary team dedicated to tick-borne diseases is preferable, as this approach gives a more precise diagnostics and improves patient care, and also reduces inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions. A survey among infectious disease specialists, investigating the adherence to guidelines with regard to type and route of administration (oral or intravenous) of antibiotics in the management of neuroborreliosis, showed some discrepancies, which lead to an information campain and revision of recommendations in some countries. A prototype-App for recognizing TBD skin infections was developed and implemented in Norway. It will facilitate to improve awareness, early diagnosis and treatment of TBD. As the project has involved ticks and TBD, the project has been of great interest to the public and also gained a lot of media attention.

Website: https://northsearegion.eu/northtick

Thematic information

Health and social services

Specific Objective: Stimulate the public sector to generate innovation demand and innovative solutions for improving public service delivery

Thematic Objective: (01) strengthening research, technological development and innovation by:

Investment Priority:

(01b) promoting business investment in R&I, developing links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the higher education sector, in particular promoting investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, eco-innovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation, and supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies

Partners (11)

Lead Partner: Region Jönköpings Län

Address: Laboratory Medicine, County Hospital Ryhov, SE-551 85 Jönköping, Sweden

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.rjl.se

Total budget: EUR 1 006 200.00

ERDF budget: EUR 503 100.00

Amsterdam Universitair Medische Centra, locatie Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC)

Name: Amsterdam Universitair Medische Centra, locatie Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC)

Address: Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.amc.nl

Total budget: EUR 745 642.00

ERDF budget: EUR 372 821.00

NHS Highland

Name: NHS Highland

Address: Microbiology Department, Raigmore Hospital, Old Perth Road,, IV2 2UJ Inverness, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Website (not verified): https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/reflab/STRL.aspx

Total budget: EUR 577 006.00

ERDF budget: EUR 288 503.00

Rigshospitalet

Name: Rigshospitalet

Address: Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 København, Denmark

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.rigshospitalet.dk

Total budget: EUR 682 500.00

ERDF budget: EUR 341 250.00

Rijks Instituut voor Volksgezondsheid en Milieu

Name: Rijks Instituut voor Volksgezondsheid en Milieu

Address: Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, P.O. Box 1, 3721 MA Bilthoven, Netherlands

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.rivm.nl

Total budget: EUR 250 020.00

ERDF budget: EUR 125 010.00

Roskilde Universitet

Name: Roskilde Universitet

Address: Universitetsvej 1 . P.O. Box 260, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.ruc.dk

Total budget: EUR 763 802.00

ERDF budget: EUR 381 901.00

Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset

Name: Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset

Address: Guldhedsgatan 10, 413 45 Göteborg, Sweden

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.sahlgrenska.se

Total budget: EUR 747 172.00

ERDF budget: EUR 373 586.00

Sørlandet sykehus HF

Name: Sørlandet sykehus HF

Address: Serviceboks 416, 4606 Kristiansand, Norway

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.sshf.no

Total budget: EUR 350 000.00

Stiftung Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover

Name: Stiftung Tieraerztliche Hochschule Hannover

Address: Buenteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.tiho-hannover.de

Total budget: EUR 554 994.00

ERDF budget: EUR 277 497.00

Universiteit Antwerpen

Name: Universiteit Antwerpen

Address: Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.uantwerpen.be

Total budget: EUR 440 796.00

ERDF budget: EUR 220 398.00

University of Aberdeen

Name: University of Aberdeen

Address: University College, Regent Walk, King´s College, AB24 3FX Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.abdn.ac.uk

Total budget: EUR 573 320.00

ERDF budget: EUR 286 660.00

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Region Jönköping County

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

Amsterdam Universiy Medical Centers (Amsterdam UMC), location Academic Medical Center (AMC)

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

NHS Highland

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

Rigshospitalet (hospital)

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

National Institute of Public Health and Environment

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

Roskilde University

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

Sørlandet Hospital Trust

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

University of Antwerp

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Partners and Projects info

University of Aberdeen

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Project acronym: NorthTick

Project start date: 2019-09-01

Project end date: 2023-06-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 6 691 452.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 3 170 726.00

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, .

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB North Sea

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-02-14

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

73 / 73 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

871 / 871 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (http://www.northsearegion.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-09-20 and 2023-01-12.

Languages

Contact Form

Tick-Borne Infections in the North Sea Region - A Competence Network to Improve Public Service Delivery based on a One Health Perspective Full Application in Call 9

Description

Thematic information

Partners (11)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Disclaimer