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Epidemiology and distribution of tick-borne encephalitis

Epidemiologie und Verbreitung der FSME

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Summary

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the main tick-borne virus infection in Eurasia. It is prevalent across the entire continent from Japan to France and occurs in endemic foci. Expansion of prevalence in areas including northern Russia, Sweden, and Finland has been observed in recent years. Ticks are the most important vectors and may transmit the TBE virus to animals and humans. TBE can also be transmitted to humans in milk containing the virus. TBE has been implicated as a travel-acquired illness and there are isolated reports of its occurrence in countries outside the known areas of prevalence. Therefore, TBE should be included in the differential diagnosis for all central nervous system diseases inside or outside endemic areas.

Zusammenfassung

Die Frühsommer-Meningoenzephalitis (FSME) ist die medizinisch wichtigste durch Zecken übertragene Virusinfektion in Eurasien. Ihr Verbreitungsgebiet reicht von Japan im Osten Asiens bis nach Frankreich im Westen Europas. In den zurückliegenden Jahren wurde ein Ausweitung der Verbreitungsgebiete in nördlicher Richtung in Nord-Russland, Schweden und Finnland beobachtet. Zecken spielen die wichtigste Rolle in der Übertragung des FSME-Virus auf Mensch und Tier. Allerdings kann die Infektion auch durch Virus-haltige Milch erfolgen. Die FSME spielt eine zunehmende Rolle in der Reisemedizin. Erkrankungsfälle treten in Regionen außerhalb der bekannten FSME-Verbreitungsgebiete auf. Daher sollte die FSME grundsätzlich bei allen entzündlichen Erkrankungen des Zentralen Nervensystems differenzialdiagnostisch ausgeschlossen werden.

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Conflict of interest

GD has no conflict of interest. DG is a full-time employee of Novartis Vaccines, a manufacturer of TBE vaccine. RP is a full-time employee of Baxter BioScience, a manufacturer of TBE vaccine. The TBE-related research of MP is financially supported by Novartis Vaccines and by Baxter Deutschland GmbH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces, Neuherbergstr. 11, 80937, Munich, Germany

    Gerhard Dobler MD

  2. Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH, Marburg, Germany

    Dieter Gniel PhD

  3. Baxter BioScience, Vienna, Austria

    Robert Petermann PhD

  4. Institute of Animal Hygiene and Public Veterinary Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Pfeffer DVM, PhD

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  1. Gerhard Dobler MD
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  2. Dieter Gniel PhD
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  3. Robert Petermann PhD
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  4. Martin Pfeffer DVM, PhD
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Correspondence to Gerhard Dobler MD.

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Dobler, G., Gniel, D., Petermann, R. et al. Epidemiology and distribution of tick-borne encephalitis. Wien Med Wochenschr 162, 230–238 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-012-0100-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-012-0100-5

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