Are the data on ticks being concealed by Rospotrebnadzor?

      The first information request was sent to the agency on May 5, 2026. The editorial office asked to provide the total number of people affected by tick bites, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis, as well as to compare the figures with the same period last year.

      The response came the next day, on May 6. The Deputy Head of the Department, L.A. Basarygina, reported that the incidence rate "does not exceed the long-term average" and is "2.5 times lower" than last year's. According to the agency, information on laboratory-confirmed cases of tick-borne viral encephalitis "has not been received at this time." No specific figures were provided.

      On May 7, the editorial office sent a follow-up request, reiterating the questions and pointing out that the first response "did not provide answers to the questions posed." It also included a reference to Article 5.39 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for liability for failure to provide information upon request from the media. The second request went unanswered.

      It should be noted that before the "tick season" of 2026, the Kirov Region's Rospotrebnadzor regularly published detailed statistics on ticks.

      In 2025, several similar materials were published on the agency's website. For instance, on May 1, it was reported that since the beginning of the epidemic season, 1,765 people had sought medical assistance. The report for May 7, 2025, mentioned 1,255 requests (from April 28, 2025, to May 4, 2025) and one laboratory-confirmed case of tick-borne borreliosis. On May 22, 3,567 bites were registered, four cases of borreliosis, and detailed data on tick infection rates were provided: borreliosis — 51.46%, encephalitis — 0.7%. In total, at least six such reports with specific weekly figures were released in 2025.

      In 2023, on March 30, the department reported the first tick bite of the season, registered in the Malmyzhsky district. Specific locations where help could be sought were also mentioned.

      Since the beginning of 2026, no reports with statistics on tick bites have been published on the Kirov Region's Rospotrebnadzor website.

      The only material on this topic is dated April 16, 2026. It states that "favorable climatic conditions contribute to the activation of insects," but no figures on the number of requests or cases of illness are provided. The agency also announced the establishment of a "hotline" for the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis.

      At the same time, the situation in the region remains tense. The entire territory of the Kirov region was endemic for tick-borne infections based on the results of 2025. As early as March 2026, specialists predicted a highly active season due to the warm winter.

      It should be noted that without open data, residents of the region cannot objectively assess the epidemiological situation and the risk of tick bites. The agency, which is obliged to carry out federal state sanitary and epidemiological supervision, for unclear reasons, is likely concealing "tick statistics," although reports from Kirov residents on social media, as well as information from acquaintances of the editorial staff, indicate several instances of tick bites in the current season.