If you are heading off to Europe this summer, chick this site out to see if you need to be worried about ticks:
Risk profiles of the 27 countries in Europe where the disease tick borne encephalitis (TBE) is endemic are now updated on the Tick Alert website www.Tickalert.org
The profiles include details of TBE risk areas known to be popular for a range of outdoor sports and activities such as hiking, climbing, camping, cycling, mountain biking and horse riding.
TBE is a viral disease contracted via the bite of an infected tick and causes up to 13,000 cases every year in Europe and Russia.Two in every 100 TBE sufferers will die from the disease
"Tick Alert is managed by Imagen Marketing Communications on behalf of Baxter Healthcare Ltd"
Is this site a genuine 'public interest' site, or an 'infomercial' for Baxter Healthcare? It looks like the latter to me... I notice that, coincidentally, Baxter Healthcare manufacture a TBE vaccine...
CP, even if it's a publicity site for their product, you still need to be aware of TBE. It's not just 'forign' countries you need to be aware about. There have been cases of it in the UK, probably spread from an infected tick/person that have 'brought' it back with them.
There is also an other disease that ticks can spread to people, can't remember what is called at moment, but is a 'native' illness. Causes a 'flu like illness at start with a circular rash around bite. If not treated can have lasting effects, like joint problems, extreme fatigue, etc. AFAIK it won't kill you, like TBE, but can really hamper your activities.
It's good to know about these as most people don't know that after getting bit by a tick, you have to look out for the symptoms.
Most GP's are not aware of the problems that tick bites can cause, so if you can tell them things to chack/look for it may help. Or ask for a second opinion.
An other thing to be aware of is, if you are somewhere that has a Rabies problem, it is possible that a tick could have bit a rabid animal and could pass it on to you.
There is also an other disease that ticks can spread to people, can't remember what is called at moment, but is a 'native' illness. Causes a 'flu like illness at start with a circular rash around bite. If not treated can have lasting effects, like joint problems, extreme fatigue, etc. AFAIK it won't kill you, like TBE, but can really hamper your activities.
Is memory loss a symptom of Lyme Disease? I'll go and check. Or are you referring to Louping Ill?
An other thing to be aware of is, if you are somewhere that has a Rabies problem, it is possible that a tick could have bit a rabid animal and could pass it on to you.
Have you any links to evidence for that - or are you speculating? I've certainly not heard of tick-borne rabies.
> CP, even if it's a publicity site for their product, you still need to be aware of TBE
I'm not disputing the fact that TBE is a genuine medical problem. Being a cynical paranoid, what concerns me is 'infomercial' websites set up by companies to 'promote' the risks of something they have a 'solution' for. Basically, they're increasing 'awareness' (aka possible paranoia) to promote sales of their product.
I don't like websites that appear to be impartial sources of information, but that are actually provided by people with very vested interests.
I am walking in the French Alps in September. France appears quite porominently on the website's list of countries with endemic TBE, which seems cause for concern.
Dig a little deeper on the website however, and you find TBE is present only in Alsace, a relatively small area of France, up against the German frontier - far from where I'll be going - so little reason for concern.
Conclusion: It looks to me like an alarmist and probably not very trustworthy website.
I'd mostly agree, ticks being so small would probably die quickly if they did bite a rabid animal. There is the possibility that in endemic countries, they have 'built up' immunity to rabies, Has happened with other animals, eg bats, they do spread rabies and are not affected by the disease. It is present in Vampire bats, and IIRC has been found in the Guano of other bats. So may be possible, I don't know for sure. Maybe a 'search engine' might throw up a result one way or 'tother'.
> I'd mostly agree, ticks being so small would probably die quickly if they did bite a rabid animal.
That would depend on whether the tick is susceptible to rabies, or whether this is merely a mammalian disease*. Mosquitoes, for instance, are the vector for malaria, but they don't die of malaria. Even some humans can be carriers of some diseases, and yet be unaffected by, and totally unaware of those diseases.
It also depends on the specific mechanism by which a disease is transmitted; blood, saliva, etc. Rabies is certainly a saliva-borne virus (usually by a bite), but whether it's also carried by blood (and therefore may infect ticks) is less certain.
What if the tick had bitten some part of the mouth/nose area and got saliva on it. Maybe and it's a very big maybe, when it bit you, if it's mouth parts where covered in rabid saliva, it could pass it on?
. Or are you referring to Louping Ill?
I'd be strongly leaning towards it being a "story from an elderly married woman".
