Isolation of tick-borne encephalitis virus from Ixodes ricinus ticks in the Tribec region.

An attempt has been made to isolate the tick-borne encephalitis virus from nymphs and adults of the tick Ixodes ricinus in the Tribec region. In 1963 no virus was found in 2715 nymphs and 998 adults from various parts of the region, but in 1964, from 2153 unfed ticks collected in the spring, two strains of virus were isolated from the 798 nymphs and two from the adults (one from 647 males and one from 708 females). Thus, on average, 0.

The role of small rodents and hedgehogs in a natural focus of tick-borne encephalitis.

The role of small rodents and hedgehogs in the circulation of tick-borne encephalitis in natural foci in the Tribec region of Czechoslovakia has been studied. Isolation of virus from the blood of Apodemus flavicollis, Clethrionomys glareolus and Erinaceus roumanicus, as well as the demonstration of antibodies in the sera of these mammals and of A. sylvaticus, Microtus arvalis and Sciurus vulgaris, showed that these mammals had been in contact with the virus in recent years.

The ecology of ticks in the Tribec and Hronský Inovec Mountains.

Ecological studies on ticks are an essential part of epidemiological investigations on arbovirus infections. The paper deals with the distribution, bionomy, trophic relationships and rearing of ticks in the laboratory and refers to the role of Ixodes ricinus ticks as vectors of the tick-borne encephalitis virus. The ticks that are common to the region are I.

The relationship between the tick-borne encephalitis virus and the ticks and mammals of the Tribec mountain range.

The basic problem in the study of tick-borne virus diseases is to establish where the virus is maintained in nature. In general, this focus will be found where there are large and relatively stable populations of ticks, small rodents and insectivores. In the Tribec region the principal vector of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is Ixodes ricinus, although other species can circulate the virus under suitable conditions.

The autecology of small rodents and insectivores of the Tribec mountain range.

Small rodents and insectivores have become the main reservoirs of tick-borne encephalitis virus. In order, therefore, to demonstrate the dynamic and structural changes occurring in a natural focus of tick-borne encephalitis, information has been collected on the distribution, habitat, life-cycle, population density and extent of tick infestation of the rodents and insectivores that inhabit the Tribec region and adjacent parts of the Hronský Inovec Mountains. The following mammals are discussed: Sciurus vulgaris, Citellus citellus, Glis glis, Muscardinus avellanarius, Mus musculus, Micromys minutus, Apodemus flavicollis, A.