Detection of new endemic focus of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Hampshire/Dorset border, England, September 2019

Maya Holding; Stuart D Dowall; Jolyon M Medlock; Daniel P Carter; Liz McGinley; Mollie Curran-French; Steven T Pullan; John Chamberlain; Kayleigh M Hansford; Matthew Baylis; Richard Vipond; Roger Hewson

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.47.1900658

Detection of new endemic focus of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Hampshire/Dorset border, England, September 2019

Euro Surveill. 2019 Nov;24(47):1900658. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.47.1900658.

Authors

Maya Holding^{1

2

3}, Stuart D Dowall^{1

2}, Jolyon M Medlock^{1

3}, Daniel P Carter^{1

4}, Liz McGinley^{1

3}, Mollie Curran-French², Steven T Pullan⁴, John Chamberlain², Kayleigh M Hansford^{1

3}, Matthew Baylis^{1

5}, Richard Vipond^{1

2}, Roger Hewson^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
² Virology and Pathogenesis Group, National Infection Service, Public Health England, Porton Down, United Kingdom.
³ Medical Entomology and Zoonoses Ecology, Emergency Response Department, Public Health England, Porton Down, United Kingdom.
⁴ Genomics, National Infection Service, Public Health England, Porton Down, United Kingdom.
⁵ Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

PMID: 31771701
PMCID: PMC6885748
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.47.1900658

Abstract

The presence of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was detected in a questing tick pool in southern England in September 2019. Hitherto, TBEV had only been detected in a limited area in eastern England. This southern English viral genome sequence is distinct from TBEV-UK, being most similar to TBEV-NL. The new location of TBEV presence highlights that the diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis should be considered in encephalitic patients in areas of the United Kingdom outside eastern England.

Keywords: Ixodes ricinus; encephalitis; flavivirus; tick-borne virus; vector-borne infections; zoonoses.

MeSH terms

Animals
Deer
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / genetics
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / isolation & purification*
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / diagnosis*
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / epidemiology
England / epidemiology
Humans
Ixodes / virology*
Phylogeny
RNA, Viral / genetics*
Seasons
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Whole Genome Sequencing

Substances

RNA, Viral