Tick-borne encephalitis in a dog

Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an infectious disease transmitted by ticks and rarely diagnosed in dogs. The diagnosis of a TBE virus infection in a living animal is based on the simultaneous presence of typical clinical-neurological signs, an acute and rapidly progressive course of the disease, the detection of TBE-specific antibodies (in the cerebrospinal fluid) or virus detection (in blood or cerebrospinal fluid), as well as the presence of pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. In the case described, the results of the performed tests led to the assumption of the presence of TBE. In addition to hyperthermia and central nervous disorders (ataxia, hyperaesthesia, seizures, changes in behavior) the classic symptoms of clinically overt TBE frequently include neck pain on flexion of the cervical spine. In the case described, a chronic form of the disease with a regeneration period of several months is documented. Treatment is based on symptomatic measures, as there is no specific therapy to date. In contrast to human medicine, there is no vaccine against TBE currently approved for use in the veterinary field. Therefore, tick prophylaxis is the only possibility to prevent TBE in dogs.