TBE used to be only found in imported cases to the UK

Two probable cases of a potentially life-threatening disease linked to tick bites were “locally-acquired” in the UK last year, health officials have said. One case of probable tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) was reported by a person who was bitten by a tick while visiting Dartmoor.

The second person did not recall a tick bite, but had visited the Peak District and the Outer Hebrides, according to a new report. The first ever case of locally acquired TBE in England was recorded in 2019 after a person was bitten by a tick in the New Forest.

Until then, TBE was considered an “imported disease” to the UK, according to the new report illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria. The new cases brings the total of UK-acquired cases to six, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

Officials said that surveillance indicates that TBE virus remains “limited to a few areas” in Britain – including Thetford Forest, New Forest, Devon, North Yorkshire, Dartmoor and parts of Scotland. Tick-borne encephalitis virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected tick.

Infection causes minimal or no symptoms in the majority of infected people, but in rare cases the virus can get into the central nervous system and can potentially lead to long-term neurological symptoms and, very rarely, death. There is a vaccine available and it is recommended for people who work in forestry, woodcutting, farming and the military where the virus is endemic.

The most common locally acquired so-called vector-borne diseases in England are from ticks, with 1,168 cases of lyme disease recorded in England last year, according to the report by the UKHSA along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).