ABSTRACT
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an endemic disease, characterized by relatively stable morbidity rates in each affected area. Long-term ecologic studies have provided information about the many epidemiologic factors involved in enzootic maintenance of TBE viruses. TBE viruses belong to the family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus. Numerous studies of the susceptibility of various laboratory animals have been published. TBE viruses produce encephalitis in albino mice inoculated intracranially, intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, or intranasally. The distribution of TBE is correlated directly with the geographic distribution of ixodid tick vector species. The basic problem in studying TBE virus is to establish the location of virus maintenance in nature. Serologic surveys of wild vertebrates have been carried out at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus Reference and Research in Bratislava. These surveys were used to measure virus activity in different natural foci of Central European encephalitis virus. Results of such surveillance can be useful in predicting human disease risk.
