Prevalence of antibodies to tickborne encephalitis and West Nile flaviviruses and the clinical signs of tickborne encephalitis in dogs in the Czech Republic

Blood sera from 151 dogs from areas of the Czech Republic endemic for human tickborne encephalitis (TBE) were examined for the presence of antibodies to TEE and West Nile (WN) flaviviruses by the haemagglutination-inhibition test. Antibodies to TEE virus at titles equal to or exceeding 40 were found in five dogs. Antibodies to WN virus were detected in only one dog that al so had a high antibody titre to TEE, suggesting this was a crossreaction be tween the two closely related viruses. Three of the dogs (all rottweilers) with a TEE title of 320 had clinical signs of meningoencephalitis or enceph alitis. They all survived after treatment for the clinical signs. It was pr oved by seroconversion that the disease was caused by the TEE virus in one of these three dogs, and it seems very likely that the virus was responsibl e for the disease in the other two.