2023-07-07 19:32:15
Less known than Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis is also transmitted by the bites of these insects. Cases are on the rise in Europe, including in France where the affected areas have been expanded by Public Health France.
Stings, goat cheese … tick-borne encephalitis is gaining ground in Europe and France, where 71 cases have been reported since 2021, with an expansion of the affected areas, according to a first assessment published Friday by Public Health France (SpF ).
Faced with the increase in the incidence of the disease in Europe and the extension of the area and period of circulation of the virus, infections by the tick-borne encephalitis virus have been listed, since May 2021, on the list of notifiable diseases.
Central nervous system damage
From May 2021 to May 2023, 71 cases were notified (30 in 2021, 36 in 2022, 5 in 2023), indicates the health agency.
The majority were male, the median age was 48. But four children, two of whom were under 10, and five seniors over 65 – age being an increased severity factor – were affected.
If the disease has “very low lethality”, it can cause “significant sequelae following damage to the central nervous system”, noted Alexandra Mailles, of SpF, during a press conference.
At the beginning of the disease, patients are suddenly seized with fever, headaches and muscle and joint pain. Then the nervous system being reached, the patients can suffer from “tremors, behavioral disorders, disturbances of vigilance or consciousness, sometimes convulsions or coma”, specifies SpF on its site.
Some of the cases (15%) exercised professions that exposed them particularly, in particular in the breeding of horses/ruminants or in the forests.
Infections from spring to fall
The virus is transmitted to humans, like Lyme disease, mainly by the bite of an infested tick, mainly from spring to fall (period of tick activity).
But transmission can go through infected ruminants, mainly goats, and the virus can be found in raw milk products. “Contamination can occur through consumption of raw milk or cheese made from raw goat’s or sheep’s milk mainly”, adds SpF.
This type of contamination was observed in June 2020 in Ain. Forty people had been hospitalized after consuming “cheese or goat cheese made from raw milk from the same cheese producer located in Ain”.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes most affected
“The infections acquired on the territory and identified are now more numerous than those acquired during travel”, notes SpF (86% against 14%).
“Unexpectedly, the department that reported the most cases during these two years is Haute-Savoie, while the recognition of the virus is much more recent there than in Alsace”.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region now appears to be an important area for the circulation of the virus, with massifs particularly at risk, such as Forez. The south of the Ardèche is also affected.
“We now have the conditions, in a certain number of regions, for transmissions”, underlined Alexandra Mailles.
How to protect yourself from it?
To protect yourself, long clothes in the forest or in tall grass and vigilance are recommended.
Vaccination is recommended for travelers to areas of frequent infection. It reduces the individual risk of being infected.
In Europe, the most affected countries are the Czech Republic, Germany, the Baltic countries. An extension of the disease towards Northern and Eastern Europe is observed.
“With climate change, some countries or regions are becoming more tick-friendly,” according to the SpF expert.
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