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Prevalence of tick‐borne encephalitis virus in Ixodes ricinus ticks from three islands in north‐western Norway
Author(s) -
Paulsen Katrine M.,
Pedersen Benedikte N.,
Soleng Arnulf,
Okbaldet Yohannes B.,
Pettersson John H.O.,
Dudman Susanne G.,
Ottesen Preben,
Vik Inger Sofie Samdal,
Vainio Kirsti,
Andreassen Åshild
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/apm.12412
Subject(s) - ixodes ricinus , tick borne encephalitis virus , tick , encephalitis , nymph , ixodes , virology , biology , encephalitis viruses , ricinus , virus , veterinary medicine , zoology , medicine , botany
Tick‐borne encephalitis ( TBE ) is the most important viral tick‐borne disease in Europe and can cause severe disease in humans. In Norway, human cases have been reported only from the southern coast. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tick‐borne encephalitis virus ( TBEV ) in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks from the north‐western part of Norway. A total of 4509 ticks were collected by flagging in May and June 2014. A subpopulation of 2220 nymphs and 162 adult ticks were analysed by real‐time PCR and positive samples were confirmed by pyrosequencing. The estimated prevalence of TBEV was 3.08% among adult ticks from Sekken in Møre og Romsdal County and 0.41% among nymphs from both Hitra and Frøya in Sør‐Trøndelag County. This study indicates that TBEV might be more widespread than the distribution of reported human cases suggests.