Tick-borne encephalitis virus

The TBE virus is the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis and a human pathogenic virus of the family Flaviviridae.

Features

This virus is an enveloped single ( ) strand RNA virus [ ss ( ) RNA ] can be distinguished from the three subtypes.

• Far Eastern subtype: resources are mainly in Russia, east of the Urals and in parts of China, Japan and Korea, carriers of this subtype is Ixodes persulcatus, the lethality of this subtype is up to 20 %
• Western Subtype: Occurrence in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, an intermediary is Ixodes ricinus, lethality is up to 2 %
• Siberian subtype

The viral capsid is composed of three structural proteins:

• Envelope protein E
• Core protein C
• Membrane protein

The E glycoprotein plays a central role in the biology of infection and is responsible for the binding and entry into the target cell. It is one of the best characterized viral proteins at all.

Carrier

Ticks ( Ixodida sp.) Are the main vectors, and the main reservoir of TBE. Infection occurs via tick bites or raw milk from infected animals. The disease itself was first described in 1931 in forestry workers from Neunkirchen, the pathogen isolated in 1949.

The endemic occurrence of TBE is always associated with large rivers. The reasons for this are unclear to date.