Tick-borne encephalitis--a notifiable disease: report of the 15th Annual Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE).

The 15th Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE)--a group of neurologists, general practicioners, clinicians, travel physicans, virologists, pediatricians, and epidemiologists--was held under the title "Tick-Borne Encephalitis--a notifiable disease". With the inclusion of TBE in the list of notifiable diseases, an important measure was established to continue improving the level of evidence on TBE in Europe to better help guide policies and methods to lower the burden of this disease. Due to differences in diagnosis, case definition, and reporting in European countries, the overall epidemiology and burden of TBE remains unclear. During the meeting, important issues regarding epidemiology, risk areas, vaccination rates, and latest news on vaccination were presented and extensively discussed. A poster session provided an overview of the epidemiological situation 2012 in 13 European countries.