TBE ticks become active in spring

The nice weather attracts the first ticks

07/03/2014

Due to the mild temperatures, the ticks wake up earlier this winter from their winter stare and are already active in some places. The Society for Virology (GfV) in Erlangen therefore advises persons who live, work and live outdoors in the TBE risk areas for the vaccination against brain and meningitis.

Ticks can transmit FSME
Ticks on bushes, in undergrowth and in meadows are already raging in many areas. The spider-like bloodsuckers are common wherever their host species live. In Germany there are about 20 different types of ticks, of which the common wood buck is the best known.

„Many people underestimate the danger posed by ticks“, explains Professor Franz X. Heinz, vice president of the GfV. He advises people who are in the known risk areas - Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, southern Hesse, Thuringia and parts of northern Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland - outdoors for vaccination against the TBE pathogens. „These known risk areas are relatively stable“, informs the expert. „The best way to vaccinate people living in the known TBE risk areas and spending a lot of time in the wild is in winter. But even now, with the beginning of the warm season, it is not too late.“

When walking through the forest or walking through meadows, the ticks can easily jump on their host and transfer the dangerous pathogens. The so-called early-summer meningoencephalitis (TBE) can take severe disease courses. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 420 infections were registered last year alone. „About one percent of cases ends fatally“, reports Heinz. While there is no vaccine against Lyme disease, another tick-borne disease, it can usually be treated with an antibiotic. „A causal therapy of the TBE, however, is not possible“, warns Heinz. (Ag)

Image: Tamara Hoffmann