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Only by ticks? TBE infections also possible through raw milk
Ticks can transmit dangerous diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). Experts therefore call again and again to protect themselves from the little bloodsuckers or get vaccinated. However, scientists have now confirmed that infection with TBE is also possible through raw milk.
Small bloodsuckers infected with dangerous bacteria
It has long been known that ticks can transmit dangerous infectious diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) or Lyme disease. Nevertheless, it was surprising what was revealed in a recent study by MedUni Vienna. "About 30 percent of all ticks in Austria are infected with Borrelia - and thus more than previously suspected," the experts reported in a statement. Even more surprising are new findings from German researchers. They showed that TBE can be transmitted not only by ticks but also by infected raw milk.
Scientists have confirmed that the dangerous infectious disease FSME can be spread not only by ticks but also by raw milk. (Image: Jenny Sturm / fotolia.com) TBE is not only transmitted by ticks
TBE is a dangerous disease, which among other things, can lead to inflammation of the brain and meninges. The disease is transmitted by ticks. However, researchers now explain that even TBE infections could be proven by raw milk.
The experts also report a finding of TBE-infected ticks in a species of ticks that is active much earlier in the year and into winter, but has not yet been a carrier of the disease.
Infections after consumption of raw milk products
Although TBE infections occur regularly after consuming raw milk products in Eastern Europe, in Germany such a case did not occur before the summer of 2016, explained tick expert Prof. Dr. med. Ute Mackenstedt, Head of the Department of Parasitology at the University of Hohenheim in a Communication.
According to the university, a family visiting a goat farm in the district of Reutlingen tried the offered fresh goat's milk, which was infected with the TBE virus. Two family members got sick. They were hospitalized but have since recovered.
According to Prof. Dr. med. Mackenstedt scientists are now working to understand the entire transmission path in the cases of illness. "For the first time in this case, we were able to examine the carriers (ticks), the host animals (goats), infested foods such as goat's milk and raw milk cheese and the diseased persons," said the parasitologist.
No risk of infection with pasteurized milk
But there are still many questions left: "The four-headed family took goat cheese from the farm, the two male family members also drank milk and fell ill."
That could be a coincidence or because the men have taken milk in addition to the cheese. However, this could also be due to gender-specific hormonal differences between the persons involved.
As the expert explained, one could protect oneself against TBE pathogens in food. Dr. Rainer Oehme from the Stuttgart State Health Department made it clear: "According to current knowledge, a normal TBE vaccine protects against infection via infected food."
In addition, it can be assumed that dairy products made from pasteurized milk pose no risk of infection.
Another type of tick occurs as a new TBE transmitter
As further reported in the communication from the University of Hohenheim, last year a new type of tick as a TBE transmitter could be identified, which is active at significantly lower temperatures than the common wood buck.
According to the information, the common forest eze (Dermacentor reticulatus) has not been considered as a carrier of the pathogen. That has now changed, explained PD Dr. med. Gerhard Dobler.
"At a measuring location near Leipzig, forest ticks infected with FSME were found in 2016 and 2017," said the physician, who heads the Institute for Microbiology of the German Armed Forces and is the head of the German Conservatory for Meningeal Congestive Encephalitis (TBE).
But: "It is not excluded that alluvial ticks also affect humans. Significantly more often, however, they attack animals. "Also against the transmitted by this type of tick TBE virus is protected with a TBE vaccine.
Ticks nationwide on the rise
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria are still affected by TBE infections, where 80 percent of cases were recorded. But TBE cases are increasingly being registered further north.
Only recently, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) published a new map of TBE risk areas in Germany.
"What has already become apparent in recent years, we can confirm again," said PD. Dobler. "The FSME is now also frequently in Lower Saxony and near the Dutch border."
TBE (early-summer meningoencephalitis) can be particularly severe in the elderly. About one third of the infected people have symptoms of illness.
First, there are flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting and dizziness.
According to doctors, around ten percent of them also cause meningitis and encephalitis with the risk of permanent damage such as paralysis. In one to two percent of sufferers, the disease leads to death.
Health experts advise people living in or frequenting high-risk areas and traveling in nature to be vaccinated against TBE. (Ad)