Tick bites: Record year looms
Never before have so many tick bites been reported in Switzerland as in 2016. The warm winter is said to be to blame.
By the end of last week, an extrapolated 10300 doctor's visits due to tick bites were reported in Switzerland. This is a new record: since the introduction of this surveillance, such a high value has never been recorded. Last year, there were only 4800 reports in the same period.
According to the FOPH, the reason for the increase is the warm winter. Ticks become active at around 7° Celsius - this value was already reached in January. However, the high season is between May and July - so it is important to pay particular attention at the moment.
Surprisingly, there has been no increase in the number of visits to the doctor for Lyme disease, which is transmitted by ticks. At 3100 cases, this has so far remained within the range of recent years. And the number of reports of the dangerous early summer meningoenziphalitis, with 21 cases so far, is below the average of the past 10 years.
