SVA, encourages the population of Sweden to send in photos via their website ”Rapportera Fästing”, in order to survey the spread of ticks over the country but also to discover unusual species of ticks. This year an uncommon tick has been reported in Västerbotten, the brown dog tick, which has reached the region on the back of a dog.
Should we be worried about an increase in ticks in Västerbotten?
– You shouldn’t avoid spending time outdoors, it does so much good for your health. On the other hand, you should make it a habit to check yourself and your pets as soon as you get home. The absence of ticks in northern Sweden could potentially have led to it not being obvious to people to look for them, says the researcher Anna Omazic.
You should be particularly vigilant to the exotic species of ticks. They can make it to Sweden via migratory birds or pets.
– There is a risk of new tick-borne diseases entering Sweden via infectious agents we do not have in Sweden, illnesses that can affect both humans and animals.
What are examples of those?
– For example, the crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus that spreads via the hyalomma tick. Animals, often cattle, carry the virus and then spread it to humans who fall ill.
In addition to migratory animals, it is believed that ticks are affected by a warmer climate. A longer growing season, fewer areas covered by snow and the lack of ground frost creates better conditions for the tick to survive and multiply.
What can we expect in the heat?
– Ticks don’t thrive when it’s too hot and dry, instead preferring the normal Swedish summer but in the heatwave of 2018 the exotic ticks thrived instead. However, it’s too early to determine whether we’ll see greater numbers of ticks this year, even if there is talk of a heatwave, Omazic says.
Do the ticks come from the south?
– Yes, the fact that the climate becomes milder means that the castor bean tick spreads along the coast of Norrland but there is also another threat here, the taiga tick. It comes from the Russian taiga and has spread to Finland and onwards to Sweden via birds and other animals.
There are currently no new infectious agents found from the taiga tick in Sweden.
– However, we’re cautious of the taiga tick as it could be carrying two new TBE virus types that may cause more serious symptoms and has a higher mortality rate than what we currently have.
