Blood meal analysis reveals sources of tick-borne pathogens and differences in host utilization of juvenile Ixodes ricinus across urban and sylvatic habitats.

Our study highlights that the key hosts maintaining tick and TBP populations may be different in urban and sylvatic habitats. Likewise, hosts generally perceived as important for upkeep may have limited importance in urban environments. Consequently, targeting control schemes based on off-site data of host importance may lead to suboptimal results.