A growing concern in France

Tick encephalitis arouses an increasing concern in France. Consequently, ANSES (National Food, Environmental and Work Health Safety Agency) takes stock of the situation to improve prevention.

Why this concern? – Growing concern france

This disease is caused by a virus which is mainly transmitted by infected tick stings of the genre Ixodes. However. Therefore, since 2020, cases related to the consumption of raw milk products, a mode of transmission hitherto not observed in France, have been reported. In addition, To this is added a geographical extension of the presence of the virus (cases reported outside of Alsace. In addition, a region historically concerned) and an increase in the number of cases in Europe, all transmission routes combined. Nevertheless, Even if the infections remain relatively rare in France (about thirty cases each year). Moreover, they can have serious consequences growing concern france and lead to long -term consequences. It is considered that 10 to 30 % of infected people develop symptoms. generally of the pseudo-Grippal type, and, among them, 20 to 40 % have neurological signs of the meningitis type, which can lead to long-term consequences and a loss of autonomy. In addition to the consequences for patients. ANSES estimated that the current annual cost of the disease amounts to 3 million euros in France (care of the disease, loss of income, decrease in quality of life, etc.).

Which people are at risk?

The expertise led by ANSES has identified categories of people more at risk of being contaminated because of. their more frequent exposure to tick stings. This is particularly the case for breeders. foresters who are 13 times more likely to be infected than the general population.

Regarding contamination by consumption of raw milk products. it is growing concern france linked to the bite of animals producing milk by ticks carrying the virus. Raw milk. dairy products based on raw goat milk seem to present more risk of transmission than dairy products from other animals: they are at the origin of the majority of cases of transmission by food in Europe. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is the most concerned with this risk. due to the proven circulation of the virus and the high number of goat farms with frequent access to the outside.

How to improve prevention?

ANSES recommends improving virus monitoring, in order to identify infected areas or farms and deploy suitable preventive measures. For the moment. this surveillance is essentially based on the identification of human encephalitis cases, but these are late indicators of the presence of the virus in a territory. To improve prevention, ANSES recommends:

• to integrate domestic and wild growing concern france sentinel animal species into the surveillance strategy, such as goats, cows and deer, as well as monitoring dairy products and ticks themselves;
• to put in place measures to avoid transmissions in the areas concerned. For example. to avoid contamination of milk, limit exposure to ruminant ticks, thanks to the installation of fences preventing contacts with areas most favorable to the presence of ticks, such as wooded areas or hedges, or by rotation of pastures. These actions can be supplemented by the pasteurization of milk in emergency situations. such as the occurrence of human cases due to food transmission or the detection of the infectious virus in the milk collected;
• to wear long clothes in the wild, especially in the forest, in order to avoid being bitten by ticks;
• To better inform the general population, exposed workers and health professionals on growing concern france the risks and symptoms of this still little known disease.

ANSES recalls that anyone wishing can be vaccinated against this virus. which is particularly relevant for the most exposed people, such as forestry workers, breeders and people practicing leisure activities in the forest.