TBE in Austria

Since 1972, the documentation of human cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Austria has been performed by the Center for Virology, Medical University of Vienna, which acts as the National Reference Laboratory for TBE and other flavivirus infections. Only hospitalized patients with a recent tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infection confirmed by laboratory diagnosis are counted as cases. Confirmation is usually based on immunoglobulin (Ig) serology (namely enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] for IgM and IgG). However, this confirmation may be supplemented by virus neutralization and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses if needed.