Tick ​​season at its peak: watch out for Lyme and TBE | Inland

In most cases, the TBE virus causes no or mild symptoms such as flu-like symptoms, but in a few cases it can lead to meningitis or inflammation of the spinal cord. According to the European Center for Disease Control, the TBE virus is increasingly common in Europe. In the Netherlands, this virus has been found in 9 of the 24 GGD regions.

“We are currently in the middle of the drawing season. With the Whitsun weekend and the summer holidays approaching, more and more people will also go out into nature or work in the garden and get tick bites, ”says Arnold van Vliet, biologist at Wageningen University and coordinator of Nature Today.

‘Fast!’

He points out that the sooner a tick is removed after the bite, the less likely it is to become infected with the Borrelia bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The speed of removal is even more important with the TBE virus because this contamination occurs much faster after a bite.

Although the TBE virus is spreading, it is still relatively rare in humans in the Netherlands. This in contrast to many other areas in Europe. “The chance of contracting a TBE infection after a tick bite is much smaller than that of contracting a Borrelia infection. In the areas where TBE was found, about 1 in 1,500 ticks turned out to be infected, while 1 in 5 ticks were infected with Borrelia, ”says Van Vliet.

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