While tick-borne diseases creep higher into the Swiss Alps, calls for tourist warnings are dismissed by tourism authorities, reports SRF.
Ticks are on the move and are now found even above 2,000 metres, a threshold once believed to be tick-free. With the entire country, barring Ticino, now designated a risk zone for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), health experts are urging clearer warnings for tourists, particularly those heading into alpine regions once considered safe.
TBE, a virus that can cause severe neurological complications such as meningitis, is moving higher, largely to climate change. Warmer temperatures allow tick eggs to hatch at higher altitudes, with Alpine regions such as Graubünden and the Engadine now reporting cases.
The Swiss League for Tick-Borne Diseases is leading the charge for better communication and warnings. Vice-president, Werner Tischhauser, argues that tourists, especially those from countries like the United States where TBE is not endemic, deserve to be informed. If we travel to the tropics, we consider malaria prevention, he says. Why should this be different?
However, tourism authorities are not prepared to act. Switzerland Tourism and regional bodies like Graubünden Tourism insist that medical advice falls outside their remit. Instead, they point to official sources of information such as federal government and travel health platform.
While the government does offer information online and recommends vaccination, tourists are unlikely to encounter direct health warnings from the industry itself. For now, it seems, the burden of awareness remains on the traveller.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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