[ad_1]
Osnabrück. The spread of ticks transmitting meningitis to TBE has so far been characterized by a strong north-south cleavage. However, infection researcher Gerhard Dobler does not believe it stays that way.
"We can already see that the TBE virus is spreading further north and that there is a trend towards the northwest," says the expert in an interview with our editors. "I'm still waiting for a spread to the west."
The evaluation of the Robert Koch Institute, which is unlikely with major changes, it does not divide, said the expert. The researcher from the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces, a partner institute of the German Infection Research Center (DZIF), has been studying the distribution and activity of TBE virus in Germany since 2009.
Among other things, the DZIF experts have co-developed a model with which the tick density can already be predicted in winter for next summer. "2018 will be a tick year," says Dobler. This summer, there is the greatest number of ticks in the last decade. This also increases the risk of infection. In all cases, experts advise to pay attention to ticks, especially in TBE risk areas. There, more animals are infected with viruses than elsewhere.
TBE Risk Areas
The TBE risk zones currently comprise 156 districts in Germany. It's ten more circles than last year. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have been included for some time, but parts of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Saxony and Saar are also affected. In Saxony, after the Vogtlandkreis became the first district in Saxon to be declared a risk area in 2014, three more were added this year, including Thuringia (two new regions) and Bavaria (five counties).
Read here: What diseases can be transmitted by ticks?
500 new cases nationwide
Nationwide, the Robert Koch Institute recorded nearly 500 TBE cases in 2017. This was the second issue the highest ever recorded. There is no trend towards more and more diseases, says the RKI. According to Dobler, the number of cases has increased in recent years between 250 and 500. The vast majority (85%) took place in 2017 in southern Germany. From time to time, people infected themselves in private gardens in Berlin, in municipal parks of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and on the lower Dutch border
Situation in Lower Saxony
In Lower -Saxe) to forest managers for the presence of the TBE virus. However, the NLGA points out that there are still no TBE risk areas in the state. In addition, there is no general recommendation for the TBE vaccine. A possible infection with the dangerous virus is very unlikely in Lower Saxony, but is not totally ruled out.
Read here: How is the year tick 2018?
"Development remains regionally very different," says Dobler. Thus, the number of TBE cases in Lower Franconia, Hesse, Odenwald and the northern part of Baden-Württemberg has decreased considerably. "At the moment, we do not know what makes FSME disappear". In general, however, it can be said that in Germany, dangerous meningitis has reappeared in recent years in slightly higher regions, between 600 and 700 meters.
According to von Dobler, two types of ticks were identified as transmitters of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE): wood and wood-throats. However, new types of ticks would be identified again and again. The species of Ixodes tick inopinatus discovered by DZIF experts in southern Germany in 2014 is considered a possible new carrier of meningitis. "We now know that this type of tick can contain pathogens," says Dobler. However, we still do not know if they can also transfer them to humans.
Climate Change Charge
There are various theories about the spread of different types of ticks, including climate change, according to my experts. Because some tick species like it hot and humid, they are gradually withdrawing, for example, from areas that have developed in arid regions as a result of climate change. This could mean that, for example, other tick species migrate here from the Mediterranean.
Read here: Ugh Tick! What to do if the child is stung?
Bird migration lines
Molecular studies of TBE viruses from different parts of Europe also show, according to Dobler, that TBE viruses spread among other things on well-known bird migration lines. . For example, scientists in Bavaria isolated and characterized a virus genetically related to a virus from Finland and, at the same time, a virus from Slovenia. "If you draw the line now, it's exactly the graphical line of birds," Dobler says. However, it is still unclear how this transfer occurs, due to infected ticks or a prolonged spread of viruses in the blood of birds.
[ad_2]
Source link
