title: Travel-related vector-borne virus infections in Germany.
abstract: Laboratory diagnosis of imported, vector-borne virus diseases during a 22-month-period in Munich, Germany, is summarized. IN 13/317 Germans returning from the Mediterranean with suspected sandfly fever, acute sandfly fever, serotype Toscana, was confirmed serologically: 84.6% of the infections were acquired in Italy. Of 249 German tourists with febrile disease returning from the tropics, acute infection with dengue virus was diagnosed serologically in 26 (10.4%): most infections were acquired in Thailand (57.7%). In a seroepidemiological study of 670 German aid workers who had spent two years in the tropics, 49 (7.3%) were positive for antibodies to dengue, 9 (1.3%) to chikungunya, and 1 (0.1%) to Sindbis virus. Of 17 Middle Eastern patients with suspected viral haemorrhagic fever, genomic Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus RNA was amplified in 4 (23.5%) by semi-nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and confirmed by molecular characterization of nucleic acid. With the increase in travel to and from endemic areas, imported vector-borne virus infections are increasingly important in Germany.
authors.affiliation: Max Von Pettenkofer Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gilch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pauli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eisenhut
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nitschko
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hegenscheid
mesh_terms: D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D000818:Animals; D001102:Arbovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003715:Dengue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003906:Developing Countries; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy; D008877:Middle East; D010217:Phlebotomus Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012845:Sindbis Virus; D013785:Thailand; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000662:veterinary; D014195:Travel; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral