Tick-borne encephalitis - A European Health Challenge conference report of the 8th meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-borne Encephalitis (ISW TBE)

The annual 2006 meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-borne Encephalitis (ISW TBE) raised the topic "Tick-borne Encephalitis - a European Health Challenge". TBE incidence has more or less increased in all European countries with a TBE risk in the last years (excepting Austria). Additionally, TBE has become an international public health problem because of increasing mobility of people travelling to risk areas. TBE vaccination should be recommended when people travel to endemic regions and come into contact with nature, regardless of the duration of the stay. As no clear recommendations for travellers exist, it will be one of the major future challenges of the ISW TBE to increase problem awareness outside endemic regions and create general recommendations, which are valid for at least all European countries.