Tuesday the 1st February 2025

11.00-12.00   Registration and poster mounting, Ystad Saltsjöbad, Ystad

12.00-13.00   Lunch

13.00-13.10   Welcome address, introduction, practical information (Per-Eric Lindgren, Stefan Wengelin)

13-10-13.15  ESGBOR – (Anna J. Henningsson, chair of ESGBOR executive committee)

Session I: Ecology, epidemiology and diagnostics of Borrelia in collaboration with ESGBOR
(Moderators: Anna Henningsson & Gordon Brestrich)

13.15-13.30 O1. Progress toward development of a human Lyme Borreliosis vaccine. Andreas Pilz & James Stark on behalf of the Pfizer/Valneva VLA15 team.  

13.30-13.45 O2. Development of novel IgM & IgG serology tests for early Lyme detection. Ayham Alnabulsi, Robin Brittain-Long, Malin Lager, Anna J. Henningsson, Per-Eric Lindgren & Tiehui Wang. 

13.45-14.00 O3 Can S73 ICPC diagnoses set by GPs be a proxy for incidence of Borrelia infections? Harald Reiso, Sørlandet Hospital, Norway. 

14.00-14.15 O4 Insights into Lyme Neuroborreliosis Through Serum Metabolomic Profiling via UHPLC-MS/MS. Ilari Kuukkanen, Tiia Rissanen, Saija Hurme, Annukka Pietikäinen, Jukka Hytönen & Maarit Karonen. 

14.15-14.30 O5. Epidemiology of Lyme Borreliosis in Skåne County, Southern Sweden, and Aspects on Surveillance of Lyme Neuroborreliosis. Mattias Waldeck, Niclas Winqvist, Claus Bohn Christansen, Bo Settergren & Per-Eric Lindgren. 

14.30-14.45 O6. The EMBio-study: Etiology and Morphology of Erythema migrans in Sweden. Samuel Cronhjort, Peter Wilhelmsson, Ivar Tjernberg, Mattias Waldeck, Anna J Henningsson, Pia Forsberg & Per-Eric Lindgren. 

14.45-15.15 Coffee break

15.15-15.30 O7 Cerebrospinal fluid protein profiling in Lyme neuroborreliosis - diagnostic and prognostic implicationsSofie Haglund, Paula Gyllemark, Pia Forsberg, Lars Brudin, Ivar Tjernberg & Anna J Henningsson. 

15.30-15.45 O8 Single-cell profiling of T-dependent immune response of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a murine model. Varpu Rinne, Ruth Fair-Mäkelä, Pia Sundqvist, Ann-Sofie Wierda, Tapio Lönnberg, Jukka Alinikula, Annukka Pietikäinena, Jukka Hytönen. 

Free time for checking in, poster mounting and informal project meetings/discussions.

19.00 -         Dinner at Ystad Saltsjöbad, Ystad        

Wednesday 2nd April 2025

07.00-          Breakfast buffet at the hotel

Session I: Ecology, epidemiology and diagnostics of Borrelia, ctd
(Moderators: Marika Nordberg & Ayham Alnabulsi)

08.15-08.45 O9 Presentation of the PhD project: Diagnosis and epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis, a study of use and application of Lyme Borreliosis serology. Marcus Johansson, County Hospital Ryhov, Jönköping/Linköping University, SE. 

08.45-09.00 O10 A case report: Borreliosis in a patient with anti-CD treated chronic lymphatic leukemia – a diagnostic challenge. Paula Gyllemark, Malin Lager, Peter Wilhelmsson, Anna J Henningsson.

09.00-09.15 O11 SWEtick: a prospective multicentre study of tick-borne infections in children and adults in Sweden. Johanna Sjöwall & Anna J Henningsson. . Elis Ölfvingsson, Henrik Hillerdal, Lisa Labbé Sandelin, Barbro Hedin Skogman, The SWEtick Study group

Session II: Ecology, epidemiology & molecular biology of tick-borne encephalitis virus
(Moderators: Åke Lundqvist & Åshild Andreasen)

09.20-09.35 O12 Molecular detection and characterization of TBE virus in patients with early neurological phase of TBE infection in Sweden. Magnus Klinteskog, Anita Koskela von Sydow, Naveed Asghar, Magnus Johansson, Anna J. Henningsson, Martin Sundqvist, Per-Eric Lindgren & Lukas Frans Ocias. 

09.35-09.50 O13 Comparison of TBE Awareness, Risk Perception and Vaccine Coverage in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Katrine Dragsbæk Møller, Mette Skovdal, Olli-Pekka Hätinen, Katherina Zakikhany-Gilg, Andreas Palmborg & Andreas Pilz. 

09.50-10.15 Coffee break

10.15-10.30 O14  Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine uptake, effectiveness, and impact in Sweden, 2018−2022. Andreas Palmborg, Frederick J. Angulo, Pingping Zhang, Andreas Pilz, James Stark, Jennifer C. Moïsi and Luis Jodar. 

10.30-10.45 O15 Antibody detection in the context of vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis virus using two IVDR approved ELISAs Susann Hohensee, Kersten Dieckmann, Sylvia Falke, Viola Borchardt-Lohölter, Marie Brinkmann, Sophie Knebel, Maike Gieseke and Nadja Muigg. 

Session III: Ecology, epidemiology and diagnostics of other potential pathogens: e.g. Anaplasma, Rickettsia, Neoehrlichia and Babesia
(Moderators: Christine Wennerås & Kristina Persson)

10.45-11.00 O16 Prevalence of Babesia spp. antibodies in tick-bitten TBD-STING study participants from Sweden. Matilda L Lövmar, Adam Shakir-Chillab, Peter Wilhelmsson, Cornelia Nilsson, Lena Danielsson, Kristina E M Persson, Pia Forsberg, Per-Eric Lindgren. 

11.00-11.15 O17 Detection of antibodies against Babesia divergens in human blood samples and potential interactions. Joel Svensson, Muyideen Kolapo Tijani, Lena Danielsson, Matilda Lövmar, Per-Eric Lindgren, Kristina E M Persson. 

11.15-11.30 O18 Babesia divergens parasites are indifferent to human ABO blood types. Muyideen Kolapo Tijani, Joel Svensson, Ingrid Alm-Hirsch, Lena Danielsson, Kristina E M Persson. 

11.30-11.45 O19 Anaplasmosis in Poland – then and now. Agnieszka Wasilewska, Dawid Wojciulik, Piotr Czupryna, Justyna Adamczuk, Justyna Dunaj-Malyszko, Aneta Izycka-Herman, Anna Grzeszczuk & Anna Moniuszko-Malinowska. 

11.45-12.00 O20 The Tick-Borne Diseases STING-study – a prospective multicenter study of Neoehrlichia mikurensis in ticks and tick-bitten individuals in Sweden and Finland, 2008-2009. Emilia Rudlund, Malin Lager, Pia Forsberg, Per-Eric Lindgren, Anna J. Henningsson, Peter Wilhelmsson

12.00-12.15 O21 Tracing the impact of N. mikurensis infection on the B cell heavy chain repertoire:  A comparative study of infected and uninfected blood donors. Alaitz Aranburu, Rima Alsalihi, Margarita Alonso, Anna Grankvist, Beatrice Bergström, Anna Staffas , Christine Wennerås. 

12.15-12.30 O22 Viability of the tick-borne pathogen Neoehrlichia mikurensis in blood components. B Bergström, S Oltean, P Remneberg Carlbom, C Wennerås, A Grankvist . 

12.30-13.45 Lunch

Session IV Posters
(Moderators: Peter Wilhelmsson & Robin Brittain-Long)

13.45-14.15 Poster pitches (2 min each, in consecutive order) without discussion in the lecture hall

14.15-15.00 Poster viewing, all presenters available for discussion/questions

15.00-17.00 Informal project discussions and Coffee

17.00 Time on your own, continued informal project discussion and/or relaxing

19.00 Dinner at Ystad Saltsjöbad, Ystad

Thursday 3rd April 2025

7.00-  Breakfast, checking out (not later than 11.00)

Session V: Tick biology, ecology and interplay with pathogenic microorganisms
(Moderators: Anna Moniuszko-Malinowska & NN)

08.30-09.00 O23 Birds and tick-borne infections – A One-Health perspective. Björn Olsen, Uppsala universitet, Sweden: 

09.00-09.15 O24 Rapportera Fästing – a citizen science tool for reporting endemic and exotic tick findings in Sweden. Anna Omazic, Stefan Widgren, Najmeh Abiri, Jerome Baron, Masud Parvage, Anton de Jong, Giulio Grandi.  

09.15-09.30 O25 Pet pests: a large-scale survey of tick species and pathogens in Norrland's cats and dogs. Murielle Ålund, Adam Shakir-Chillab, Ann-Christin Nordqvist, Giulio Grandi, Per-Eric Lindgren, Anna Omazic.

09.30-10.00 Coffee break and check out

10.00-10.15 O26 Prevalence and abundance of questing ticks and tick-borne pathogens in the Åland Islands. Nellie Carlströmer Berthén, Susanne Olausson, Peter Wilhelmsson, Patrik Dinnétz, Marika Nordberg. 

10.15-10.30 O27 The use of total-RNA sequencing to understand the microbiome of ticks. Carsten Suhr Jacobsen. 

10.30-11.30 NoSTick – The Nordic Society for Ticks and Tick-borne Infection: General Assembly and launch of a new scientific society

11.30-11.35   Welcome to 5th NordTick in Varberg, Sweden, 2026. (NordTick organizer)

11.35-11.40   Concluding remarks (Per-Eric Lindgren)

11.40-13.00   Lunch and departure