Prague in Depth: Health - Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Encephalitis

Lyme disease (Lymská borelióza) and tick-borne encephalitis (Klíšťová encefalitida) are no joke in the Czech Republic.

Lyme disease affects around 3,250 people every year in the Czech Republic, while encephalitis affects around 500.

In Europe, the main danger comes from ticks -- specifically, Ixodes ricinus (also known as sheep ticks or castor bean ticks) -- which can spread the disease or infection to humans when they feed on their blood.

Ticks live in wooded areas and usually either drop from the leaves onto their host/victim or wait in long grass until someone brushes by.

The infectious disease centers of hospitals around the Czech Republic contain many patients who are either infected with Lyme disease or tick-borne encephalitis, or are suffering complications caused by an earlier misdiagnosis of their condition.

A detailed article on ticks in the Czech Republic is available elsewhere on Prague TV.