[Tick borne diseases]

It is known for many years that tick-borne diseases have worldwide a high economical impact on farming industry and veterinary medicine. But only in the last twenty years the importance of such diseases were notified in human medicine by the medical community and the public with emerging of the tick borne encephalitis virus and the description of Borrelia burgdorferi. It is often forgotten that many other infectious agents as bacteria, virus, Rickettsia or protozoa can be transmitted by ticks. Such diseases are rarely diagnosed in Europe either they are overlooked and misdiagnosed or they are connected with special professional activities. The development of new regions for tourism with different out door activities (adventure trips, trekking, hunting) leads to an exposure to different tick borne diseases, which are often misdiagnosed.