Family outbreak of alimentary tick-borne encephalitis in Slovakia associated with a natural focus of infection.

A family outbreak of tick-borne encephalitis involving 7 people, all of them hospitalized, was observed in the district of Povazská Bystrica (central Slovakia). The disease was associated with the drinking of unboiled goat milk and tick-borne encephalitis virus was recovered from Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from places where goats were grazing.

[Familial epidemics of tick-borne encephalitis in central Povazie].

The authors describe two cases of tick-born encephalitis family epidemies in the natural focus of tick-born encephalitis (TbE) in the central part of Povazie in the district of Povazká Bystrica in the years 1989 and 1993. The infection took place due to consumption of raw goat milk. The best prevention against tick-born encephalitis is represented by vaccination.