According to German experts, six years after its discovery in China, the tick-borne virus “Alongshan” (ALSV) has already spread to a large part of Europe, DPA reports.
The virus, which is not linked to serious illness in humans, has been found in ticks in Finland, France, Russia, Switzerland and now in Germany, the Center for Travel Medicine (TCM) in Düsseldorf confirmed.
Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in the northern German city of Hannover have found evidence of ALSV being transmitted by ticks to wild animals such as deer in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony.
“The distribution areas of many native tick species have expanded significantly in recent years,” explained CMP scientific director Thomas Jelinek.
Recent mild winters and warmer summers have benefited the arachnids, he said after the study was published in the scientific journal Microorganisms.
However, ALSV has not yet been associated with anything worse than flu-like symptoms in humans, BTA explains.
The most common tick-borne disease in Europe is Lyme disease, which can be treated with antibiotics in the early stages. Early summer meningoencephalitis (SME) is also particularly common in many areas, but it can be vaccinated against.
2023-07-29 10:51:42
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