QUESTION UNDER STUDY To determine the incidence and determinants of tick related diseases in Switzerland, for example tick bites and Lyme borreliosis in primary care and tick borne encephalitis. METHODS Analysis of the Swiss data collected by mandatory and facultative surveillance systems for the reporting period of 2008 to 2011. RESULTS Tick related diseases in Switzerland are common. Abou...

The number of tick bites received by individuals wearing either permethrin-treated or untreated summer clothing (T-shirt, shorts, socks, and sneakers) was compared during a controlled indoor study. Pathogen-free nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say were placed on the left shoe, right leg, and left arm of 15 (5/treatment group/d) human volunteers wearing untreated outfits or outfits treated with permet...

We evaluated Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) surveillance data from southern Kazakhstan during 2009-2010 and found both spatial and temporal association between reported tick bites and CCHF cases. Public health measures should center on preventing tick bites, increasing awareness of CCHF signs and symptoms, and adopting hospital infection control practices.

Ticks are capable of transmitting viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and rickettsiae to man. Several of these tick-borne pathogens can lead to pulmonary disease. Characteristic clinical features, such as erythema migrans in Lyme disease, or spotted rash in a spotted fever group disease, may serve as important diagnostic clues. Successful management of tick-borne diseases depends on a high index of su...

BACKGROUND Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi which is transmitted in Europe by the tick ixodes ricinus. Erythema migrans is a skin lesion which is pathognomonic of Lyme disease. A retrospective study was carried out to determine the geographical distribution of the occurrence of tick bites and erythema migrans in the Netherlands and to identify ecological risk factors. METHODS In...

Ticks are obligate haematophagous arthropods present all over the world able to produce human diseases. Several factors have increased the abundance, circulation and distribution of the pathogens transmitted by ticks, contributing to the change in the vector-borne diseases epidemiology in the last years. This review collects the most important measures for the prevention and prophylaxis of tick...

The duration of tick feeding is an important indicator to evaluate the risk of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato transmission, which increases considerably with the blood meal duration. This blood meal duration may be estimated from scutal index, the ratio between body length (idiosoma) and scutum width. For the estimation of blood meal duration in Ixodes ricinus, nymphal and adult female ticks w...

BACKGROUND Ticks act as vectors for a large number of different pathogens, perhaps most notably Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The most prominent tick vector in the United States is the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis. Tick bites are of special public health concern since there are no vaccines available against most tick-transmitted pathogens. Based on the observ...

To the Editor: Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in Sweden, and as many as 10000 individuals are thought to be affected each year.1 Recent studies have suggested that individual variability in vector attachment may be linked to different body odors.2,3 Other studies suggested that diethyltoluamide is the best repellent against insect vectors and permethrin against ticks, ...