Teck alarm in Austria: 25 TBE cases in just six months!

Teck alarm in Austria: 25 TBE cases in just six months!

Vienna, Österreich - In Austria, the risk of infection with early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE) has increased this year. By June 25, 2025, at least 25 people were brought to the hospital due to a TBE infection, as vienna.at . Compared to the previous year, when there were 158 hospitalizations, this increase is a worrying trend.

The current Situation is reinforced by an increasing tick volume. By June 20, 2025, citizens submitted over 2,650 ticks to identify. For comparison: only 1,420 ticks were collected throughout the previous year. The vast majority, about 95.1 percent, belonged to the genus of Ixodes, the common wooden goat. It is particularly striking that most ticks come from Lower Austria (40 percent), followed by Upper Austria (19.8 percent) and Styria (17.4 percent).

associated pathogens and monitoring projects

In the analysis of 940 ticks examined, 22.1 percent were positively tested for Borrelia. In addition, Rickettsia could be detected in 15.6 percent of the rehearsals. Other pathogens found in lower proportions are anaplasma phagocytophilum and candidate neoehrichia mikurensis. The discovery of three huge infections (Hyalomma Marginatum), which are connected with a stay in Croatia, also increases the alarm bells. Two of these ticks were negatively tested for the Crimean Congo fever.

The Survector project, which has been running since the beginning of 2024, has the goal of building nationwide mosquito and tick monitoring structures. This initiative aims to monitor newly occurring pathogens and to actively involve the citizens. Interested citizens can continue to make ticks for identification, which contributes to better data collection.

climate change and tick spread

The spread of ticks in Austria is increasingly associated with climate change. Simple altitudes, which were previously considered safe, seem to lose their limits, since ticks are also found in higher locations. Researchers warn that this development could have serious health consequences because ticks act as a transmitter of numerous zoonoses.

ticks are ectoparasites that are primarily sucking on the blood of vertebrates, including people. According to pmc they belong to the class of spider animals (arachnida) and are known in about 900 species. Some of these species are carriers of diseases, which also include Lyme disease and TBE. With the rising tick volume and the possibly changing distribution areas, it is important to protect yourself preventively.

In order to protect the health of the population, it is recommended to be vaccinated against TBE because there is an effective vaccination against this disease. A responsible handling of nature and the sensitization to the dangers of ticks can help minimize the risks.