Hunters can contribute to action against tick-borne diseases

The serious disease TBE, which infects humans through tick bites, has continued to rise in the past year, with about 600 cases reported. This trend has been increasing for several years, with greater geographic spread across the country.

TBE can lead to severe cases of encephalitis. Most people recover, but up to a third develop permanent neurological problems.

Occupational groups that move frequently through forests and lands are particularly at risk – such as forest workers, farmers, conservationists and hunters.

An effective way to protect yourself from the disease is vaccination. By gaining knowledge about the attitude of people in these groups to vaccination, and whether they have been vaccinated, researchers can estimate the future risk of TBE in the population.

Therefore, researchers at Umeå University and the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, SVA, turn to professionals in several groups at risk, including professional hunters and research fishermen, with Survey with questions Where you want to assess knowledge, awareness and practices about TBE vaccination.

– Cases of TBE are increasing and it is important to increase knowledge about how to protect yourself from infection. People who work in hunting and who spend a lot of time in nature are a clearly at-risk group and therefore it is good for them to take part in this survey,” state veterinarian Erik Agren at the SVA tells Svensk Jakt.

The survey is open for responses until June 24 of this year.