Barp et al.
First human case of tick-borne encephalitis in non-endemic region in Italy: A case report
Pathogens. 2022;11(8):854. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11080854
In Italy, most TBE cases have been reported in northeastern areas – Belluno, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (see e.g., Snapshot week 15/2022). So far, no case has been notified in Italy’s central region, Emilia Romagna. The first TBE case in this region has now been described.
In April 2022, a 59-year-old man had complaints of fever, headache and arthromyalgia. He had not traveled outside Serramazzoni, his hometown, during the last four weeks before falling ill. In his second fever stage, he suffered from ataxis, constipation, high blood pressure, dyspnea, tremors and facial palsy.
The most common differential causes of encephalitis were excluded.
Serology for TBE have been conducted nine days after admission to the hospital, and both serum and CSF were positive for IgG and IgM.
These data indicate that TBE virus may circulate near Serramazzoni, a mountain district of Modena (Emilia Romagna) in the Apennines in central Italy.