Tick borne infections take off in 2008

Almost 5,000 people suffered from tick-borne infections in the Czech Republic in 2008, around 900 more than a year earlier, according to the National Institute of Public Health. Of these, 633 suffered from encephalistis, which affects the nervous system, with three men dying in hospital following infection. Lyme disease affected 4,350 people. The figures mean that 2008 was the second worst year for tick-borne diseases after 2006.