New tick-borne encephalitis virus hot spot in Northern Zealand, Denmark, October 2019

Charlotte N. Agergaard, Maiken W. Rosenstierne, René Bødker, Morten Rasmussen, Peter H.S. Andersen, Anders Fomsgaard

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Abstract

During summer 2019, three patients residing by Tisvilde Hegn, Denmark were hospitalised with tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) after tick bites. A new TBE virus (TBEV) micro-focus was identified in tick nymphs collected around a playground in Tisvilde Hegn forest. Estimated TBEV prevalence was 8%, higher than in endemic areas around Europe. Whole genome sequencing showed clustering to a TBEV strain from Norway. This is the second time TBEV is found in Ixodes ricinus outside Bornholm, Denmark.

Keywords

  • Denmark
  • Ixodes ricinus
  • meningoencephalitis
  • Northern Zealand
  • phylogenetic analysis
  • Tick-borne encephalitis
  • tick-borne encephalitis virus

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