Infection rates of the viral disease have jumped 70 percent since last year, and 2006 has been the most dangerous year for TBE in the past decade, data from the State Health Institute (SZÚ) show. In the first 10 months of this year, 890 people were infected with TBE, versus 538 cases over the same period in 2005.

Warmer-than-usual temperatures drew people to wooded areas where ticks have been proliferating, said Dr. Roman Prymula.

"The situation has really worsened in the past few years," said Prymula, dean of the Faculty of Military Health Sciences in Hradec Králové. "You are always at risk, and we don't have any efficient treatments."

The disease is endemic to much of Europe, Russia and Central Asia, especially in rural areas. Locally, TBE is most concentrated in South and Central Bohemia. Infection leads to fever, headaches and vomiting. In about one-third of cases, the brain or the lining of the spinal cord becomes dangerously inflamed.

The European TBE strain, less severe than the Asian version, is fatal in only 1 percent to 5 percent of cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But 10 percent to 20 percent sustain long-term neurological damage, including paralysis.

There is an effective vaccine, but only 10 percent to 15 percent of Czechs are immunized.

"Wearing special clothing or tick repellent is not reliable enough. ... The best answer is immunization," said Václav Chmelík, an infectious-disease specialist in České Budějovice.

Now is the time because the three-dose vaccine needs time to become fully effective before summer.

Data from the International Scientific Working Group on TBE (ISW-TBE), which aims to curb the disease, show that the Czech Republic has one of the worst records in Europe. Excluding Russia, it has had the highest number of cases in six of the past seven years.

The government needs to do more to address the issue, with education, public advertising and subsidizing of vaccines, Chmelík said.

A subsidization program in neighboring Austria has been highly successful, Prymula said.

Immunization costs about 1,500 Kč ($69), and only a few insurance companies cover the cost. Only certain at-risk groups such as forest workers and the military receive the vaccination for free, he said.

Nearly 90 percent of Austrians have been vaccinated, and annual cases of TBE have fallen to about 50, Chmelík said.

But in the Czech Republic, a similar program looks unlikely.

"At this moment, the Health Ministry isn't considering the introduction of free vaccinations," said ministry spokesman Tomáš Cikrt.

In recent years, resources have been focused on implementing a WHO-recommended polio vaccine at a cost of 100 million Kč, he said.

TBE isn't a top ministry priority, Cikrt said: "From the point of view of public health protection, TBE cannot be transmitted on a human-to-human basis."

But the risks are serious, Prymula said, adding that if it spreads at this rate, "we'll have to start thinking about mass immunization."