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Background: In Latvia and other endemic regions, a single tick bite has the potential to transmit both tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme borreliosis. Objective: To analyse both the clinical features and differential diagnosis of combined tick-borne infection with TBE and Lyme borreliosis, in 51 patients with serological evidence, of whom 69% had tick bites. Results: Biphasic fever suggestive of TBE occurred in 55% of the patients. Meningitis occurred in 92%, with painful radicular symptoms in 39%. Muscle weakness occurred in 41%; in 29% the flaccid paralysis was compatible with TBE. Only two patients presented with the bulbar palsy typical of TBE. Typical Lyme borreliosis facial palsy occurred in three patients. Typical TBE oculomotor disturbances occurred in two. Other features typical of Lyme borreliosis detected in our patients were distal peripheral neuropathy (n = 4), arthralgia (n = 9), local erythema 1–12 days after tick bite (n = 7) and erythema chronicum migrans (n = 1). Echocardiogram abnormalities occurred in 15. Conclusions: Patients with double infection with TBE and Lyme borreliosis fell into three main clinical groups: febrile illness, 3 (6%); meningitis, 15 (30%); central or peripheral neurological deficit (meningoencephalitis, meningomyelitis, meningoradiculitis and polyradiculoneuritis), 33 (65%). Systemic features pointing to Lyme borreliosis were found in 25 patients (49%); immunoglobulin (Ig)M antibodies to borreliosis were present in 18 of them. The clinical occurrence of both Lyme borreliosis and TBE vary after exposure to tick bite, and the neurological manifestations of each disorder vary widely, with considerable overlap. This observational study provides no evidence that co-infection produces unusual manifestations due to unpredicted interaction between the two diseases. Patients with tick exposure presenting with acute neurological symptoms in areas endemic for both Lyme borreliosis and TBE should be investigated for both conditions. The threshold for simultaneous treatment of both conditions should be low, given the possibility of co-occurrence and the difficulty in ascribing individual neurological manifestations to one condition or the other.

Aim—To characterise 12 Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates cultured from ticks collected in the Highlands of Scotland. Methods—Three molecular methods were used: an outer surface membrane protein A (OSP A) gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR) designed to give different molecular weight products with different genomic groups, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene PCRs using genomic group specific primers. Results—All of the molecular methods used were quick and easy to perform and capable of differentiating between the different genomic groups of B burgdorferi sensu lato. All 12 tick isolates were characterised successfully with each method: five were characterised as B afzelii and seven were characterised as B burgdorferi sensu stricto. RAPD also identified differences within these genomic groups. Conclusions—From this study, it is now known that at least two different B burgdorferi sensu lato genomic groups are present in the Highlands of Scotland: B afzelii and B burgdorferi sensu stricto. This information can now be used to develop appropriate serological tests, which should improve the diagnosis and management of patients with Lyme disease in Scotland. The molecular methods chosen were found to be useful typing tools and will allow rapid identification of any future isolates.