Health Alerts

Recent samplings of castor bean tick populations (Ixodes ricinus) collected in selected locations of southern Germany have continued a marked yearly increase in both the adult and nymph stages since 2018. In some areas, the increase in adult ticks was as much as three times higher and, as the mature form is more likely to harbour the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus, this is predicted to raise the risk of infection. The higher levels of tick activity were not restricted to the south and were also observed in other regions, some close to the borders with Austria, Switzerland and France. Also in Europe, early in June reports emerged of a growing number of people in Bulgaria requiring hospitalisation following tick bites. Among the infections diagnosed was one case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, and several of Lyme disease and Marseilles fever (Mediterranean spotted fever). No more details on location were provided. Read More