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A tick - more precisely: a common wood tick
Photo: F. Hecker / blickwinkel / imago images
Five other regions in Germany have been classified as risk areas for TBE, mostly tick-borne encephalitis - including an area in Saxony-Anhalt for the first time.
It is about the city of Dessau-Roßlau, as can be seen from the current epidemiological bulletin of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin.
A new district has also been added in Bavaria (Dillingen ad Donau), Hesse (Fulda), Saxony (central Saxony) and Thuringia (Weimarer Land).
A total of 169 districts are now defined as TBE risk areas.
In general, there is a risk of TBE infection in Germany, especially in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, in southern Hesse, in south-eastern Thuringia and in Saxony, according to the RKI.
Individual risk areas are also in Central Hesse, Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony.
The classification as a risk area is based on disease data from several years.
In these regions, people who might come into contact with ticks in their leisure time or at work, for example, are recommended to have a TBE vaccination.
For some years now, experts have been observing that TBE-infected ticks in Germany are spreading further from the south to the north.
Mild winters also ensure that the ticks become active quite early.
TBE cases can also occur outside of the risk areas.
Only in Hamburg and Bremen are no TBE diseases known to have been acquired there.
The number of cases fluctuates greatly from year to year
In 2020, 704 TBE cases were reported, more than ever since data collection began in 2001.
In the previous year, the number was 445, in 2018, the year with the largest number of cases, it was 583.
It is currently being investigated whether the significant increase during the corona pandemic could possibly be related to a change in leisure behavior, according to the report.
According to the RKI, the majority of the reported TBE sufferers were not vaccinated at all or inadequately vaccinated.
The TBE case numbers generally fluctuate considerably from year to year.
According to the RKI data, the majority of the illnesses take place in the months of May to October.
TBE stands for early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE).
The pathogens are mainly transmitted by ticks.
Transfers through the consumption of raw milk or raw milk products are also possible, but rarely.
TBE begins with symptoms such as headache and fever.
In a small proportion of those infected, after a period without symptoms, a second phase with meningitis, encephalitis or spinal cord inflammation can occur.
The disease can be fatal;
In 2020 that was the case in one case.
A vaccination offers the most reliable protection against TBE.
The vaccination rates in the affected regions are often still very low, according to the RKI.
The animals can not only transmit TBE, but also what is known as Lyme borreliosis, which can damage nervous systems and joints.
The estimates of the number of cases of illness vary greatly between 40,000 and 120,000 per year.
There is currently no effective vaccination against it.
Typical habitats for ticks include light forests and forest edges as well as areas with tall grass or bushes, as the report says.
Gardens and urban parks also offer good conditions.
Walkers should wear long clothes and sturdy shoes in forests, fields and meadows.
Stockings put over the trouser legs make it difficult for ticks to find bare skin.
Anti-tick remedies only offer limited protection for a few hours.
Everyone should thoroughly check their body for ticks after a trip outside.
This also applies to children after playing.
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wbr / dpa / AFP
