Abstract
Ixodes ricinus ticks are one of the most important vectors and reservoirs of infectious diseases in Europe, and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one of the most dangerous human diseases transmitted by these vectors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the TBE incidence in some European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we analyzed the data published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Eurostat on the number of reported TBE and COVID-19 cases in 2020 and TBE cases in 2015–2019 (reference period). Significant differences in the TBE incidence were found between the analyzed countries. The highest TBE incidence was found in Lithuania (25.45/100,000 inhabitants). A high TBE incidence was also observed in Central European countries. In 12 of the 23 analyzed countries, there was significant increase in TBE incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 compared to 2015–2019. There was no correlation between the incidence of COVID-19 and TBE and between the availability of medical personnel and TBE incidence in the studied countries. In conclusion, Central Europe and the Baltic countries are areas with a high risk of TBE infection. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed restrictions, the incidence of TBE is increasing in more than half of the analyzed countries.
Highlights
Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) are one of the most important vectors and reservoirs of infectious and parasitic diseases in Europe [1]
I.e., representatives of a group of more than 40 species of arthropods in the ixodid tick fauna occurring on the European continent, have great medical and epidemiological importance [2,3]
This is mainly related to the host preferences [4,5] and wide occurrence range of this species [2,6], as well as the spectrum of transmitted pathogens, e.g., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes causing Lyme borreliosis (LB); tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), i.e., a causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE); and other less frequent tick-borne pathogens infecting humans, e.g., Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, or Francisiella tularensis, where infection via a tick bite is only one of the possible transmission routes [1,7,8,9,10]
Summary
Ticks (Acari: Ixodida) are one of the most important vectors and reservoirs of infectious and parasitic diseases in Europe [1]. I.e., representatives of a group of more than 40 species of arthropods in the ixodid tick fauna occurring on the European continent, have great medical and epidemiological importance [2,3]. This is mainly related to the host preferences [4,5] and wide occurrence range of this species [2,6], as well as the spectrum of transmitted pathogens, e.g., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes causing Lyme borreliosis (LB); tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), i.e., a causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE); and other less frequent tick-borne pathogens infecting humans, e.g., Rickettsia spp. The presence of the genetic material of this virus in D. marginatus has been confirmed, but the role of this species as a competent TBEV vector has not been elucidated [12]
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