Vector-borne viral diseases in Sweden--a short review

Ockelbo disease, caused by a Sindbis-related virus transmitted to man by mosquitoes, was first described in the central part of Sweden in the 1960s as clusters of patients with fever, arthralgia and rash. An average annual rate of 30 cases was recorded in the 1980s but no cases have been diagnosed during the last few years. Nephropathia epidemica (NE) characterized by fever, abdominal pain and renal dysfunction has been known to cause considerable morbidity in Sweden during the last 60 years but the etiologic agent (Puumala virus) was not isolated until 1983. This virus's main reservoir is the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). NE is endemic in the northern two thirds of Sweden where more than a hundred cases are diagnosed each year. Tick-borne encephalitis transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks is restricted to the archipelago and Lake M-alaren on the east coast close to Stockholm. Between 30 and 110 cases are diagnosed every year. Inkoo virus, a California encephalitis group virus, has been isolated from mosquitoes in Sweden. The antibody prevalence to Inkoo virus is very high in a normal population, but no disease has as yet been associated with this virus in Sweden. Among the vector-borne virus diseases imported to Sweden, dengue is the most important, with approximately 50 cases recorded every year.