Ticks themselves do not cause disease but if a tick is infected with a virus or bacterium, then that pathogen can be transmitted through the tick’s bite and cause disease in humans.
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is endemic in the Balkan region and a few sporadic cases are reported on a regular basis. In the WHO European Region, Turkey remains the country that is most affected. The main vector for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, the tick Hyalomma marginatum, has a wide distribution in Europe.
The objective of this expert consultation was to guide, harmonize and enhance the surveillance and prevention of tick-borne diseases in EU Member States, with special emphasis on Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis.
The European network for arthropod vector surveillance for human public health (VBORNET), funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, holds its second annual general meeting at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, on 18-20 April 2011