Tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America is a zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium, Borrelia hermsii, which is transmitted by the bite of infected Ornithodoros hermsi ticks. The pathogen is maintained in natural cycles involving small rodent hosts such as chipmunks and tree squirrels, as well as the tick vector. In order for these ticks to establish sustained and viable populations, a narrow set of environmental parameters must exist, primarily moderate temperatures and moderate to high amounts of precipitation. Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling (Maxent) was used to predict the species distribution of O. hermsi and B. hermsii through time and space based on current climatic trends and future projected climate changes. From this modeling process, we found that the projected current distributions of both the tick and spirochete align with known endemic foci for the disease. Further, global climate models predict a shift in the distribution of suitable habitat for the tick vector to higher elevations. Our predictions are useful for targeting surveillance efforts in areas of high risk in western North America, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of public health investigations and vector control efforts.

北美西部传播的borne传热是由螺旋体细菌伯氏疏螺旋体（Borrelia hermsii）引起的人畜共患病，这种细菌是由被感染的鸟嘴Or（Ornithodoros hermsi） tick叮咬传播的。病原体以包括小啮齿动物宿主（例如花栗鼠和松鼠）以及the媒介在内的自然周期维持。为了使这些壁虱能够建立持续和可行的种群，必须存在一套狭窄的环境参数，主要是中等温度和中等至高水平的降水量。最大熵物种分布模型（Maxent）用于预测O的物种分布。hermsi和乙。Hermsii根据当前气候趋势和未来预计的气候变化穿越时空。从此建模过程中，我们发现the和螺旋体的预计当前分布与该疾病的已知地方病灶一致。此外，全球气候模型预测壁虱矢量的适宜生境分布向更高海拔的转移。我们的预测对于将北美西部高风险地区的监视工作作为目标，提高公共卫生调查和病媒控制工作的效率和准确性很有用。