Tick-borne Encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infectious disease of the central nervous system, transmitted by the bite of several species of infected ticks. It most often shows as meningitis, encephalitis or meningoencephalitis, and myelitis and spinal paralysis also occur. In about one third of cases sequelae, predominantly cognitive dysfunction, persist for a year or more. The virus infects a range of hosts including ruminants, birds, rodents, carnivores, horses and humans, and ruminants and dogs provide the principal animal source of infection for humans. Reported cases have been increasing in most countries, by almost 400 percent across the endemic regions of Europe within three decades, and in 2020 Public Health England declared the first two cases contracted within the United Kingdom.