Tick season has started again. So tick activity is very high in large parts of the Netherlands at the moment. Several reports of tick bites have also been received in Limburg.
Here’s what Nature Today writes. Ticks can transmit acute Lyme disease to humans. Researchers also warn about tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), which is another tick-borne disease.
Quickly remove
Says Arnold Van Fleet, a biologist at Wageningen University and nature coordinator today.
The faster the tick is removed after a bite, the less chance of infection with the Borrelia bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Also read: You must know this about ticks
TBE virus
Speed of clearance is more important with TBE (tick-borne encephalitis) virus because this infection occurs faster after a bite. In most cases, TBE virus causes no or mild symptoms such as flu-like symptoms, but in a few cases it can cause inflammation or inflammation of the spinal cord in the brain (membrane).
TBE is spreading in the Netherlands. Research by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows that the virus has been found in 9 of 24 GGD regions in the Netherlands.
Very little chance
However, your chance of contracting TBE from a tick bite is still very small. Between 2016 and 2020, 12 patients in the Netherlands were reported to have tick-borne encephalitis in the Netherlands. The places most likely to be contaminated are: Sallandse Heuvelrug, Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Central North Brabant, Flevopolder, Twente and Achterhoek.
The virus also appears to be present in Limburg, but no patients have been reported here so far. Antibody research showed that deer in our county have been bitten by ticks with TBE virus.
