Questing tick sampling
Questing tick were counted and collected by dragging a 1-m² white blanket over the same area as the rodent trapping grid (see below). The trapping grid was divided into 16 smaller grids and the blanket was dragged over three different 10-metre-long transects within these 16 grids. In all, 48 different transects totalling a surface area of 480 m² were investigated within the 4.0-hectare area. Ticks were collected during the first week of the month, once a month from April to October in 2011 and from May to October in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with the exception of July and August 2011, August 2013 and October 2014 when no ticks were sampled. At the laboratory, ticks were first identified at species level based on their morphology using appropriate keys and descriptions (Pérez‐Eid, 2007). All questing nymphs and adults were washed in 70% ethanol, rinsed twice in distilled water, dried, and stored at - 80°C until tested for TBEV.