Chen et al.
The prevalence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection among humans in Heilongjiang province of China in 2020-2023 Zoonoses Public Health. 2024. doi:10.1111/zph.13178
In recent years, TBE cases have been reported frequently in northeastern China, particularly in Jilin and Heilongjiang. This region, however, lacks detailed epidemiological data regarding the prevalence of TBE virus infections.
Between 2020 and 2023, blood samples were collected from tick-bitten individuals at Heilongjiang Red Cross Sengong General Hospital and analyzed for the presence of TBE virus infection (by PCR technique). The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of infections caused by the TBE virus and to examine the behaviors associated with an increased risk of infection. In 135/457 samples (29.54%), a TBE virus infection was detected. Among the 457 persons, five had a history of vaccination, of whom two exhibited asymptomatic infections.
The peak infection period was May and June. Most patients suffered from fever (28.71%), headache (10.89%), myalgia or arthralgia (10.89%) or fatigue (12.87%) at the time of presentation. Redness and swelling at tick bite site was observed in 42.57%.
Sequencing of 53 TBE virus positive PCR products (partial glycoprotein E) revealed that all isolates belonged to the Far Eastern TBE virus subtype. All these isolates, however, did not cluster with the so far known three clades of the Far Eastern subtype.