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This summer there will be an extremely high number of ticks. The danger of being infected with TBE or Lyme disease is also high.
© Michael Tieck – Fotolia.com
Mar. 03. July 2018
This summer there will be a particularly large number of ticks: scientists at the German Infection Research Center (DZIF) in Munich are planning a "tick year". Researchers have developed a model that will allow them to predict the density of ticks already in winter for the summer to come
Ticks, shrubs and grbades harbor a particularly high number of ticks this summer. Among other things, leeches transmit tick-borne meningoencephalitis (TBE), a viral meningitis that can be fatal. Lyme disease is transmitted by this tick species. "Overall, the risk is particularly high this year," says Privatdozent, MD. Gerhard Dobler. "We will have the most ticks in the last decade." For 2017, Dobler scientists predicted 187 ticks per standardized area and found 180 ticks. The largest number of ticks ever found was predicted for 448 ticks in 2018.
Since 2009, Dobler and his team have been diagnosed with Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces study the spread and activity of TBE virus in Germany. Over a period of nine years, DZIF researchers have documented the number of ticks at a source of infection in southern Germany. "Using tick data from our cooker model and some environmental parameters, colleagues at the Vienna Veterinary University have been able to develop a model that prepares us for ticks in the summer," says Dobler.
More ticks always mean a higher risk of getting sick. Lyme disease can be transmitted by ticks all over Germany and can be found in about one in four ticks, regardless of region. Here, only vigilance for forest walks and open-air stays helps to avoid it. The faster the tick is removed, the lower the risk of developing Lyme disease. To prevent the risk of TBE infection, Dobler recommends immunization, especially in southern Germany, where the density of ticks infected with the virus is higher. Which areas of Germany are clbadified as TBE risk areas can be read on the FSME map of the Robert Koch Institute.
DZFI / NK
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