According to spokesperson for the office of the president Piret Pert, Ilves was diagnosed with borreliosis at the Viljandi Hospital at the beginning of August. A few days earlier he had gone mushroom picking in the forest.

According to Pert the president is being treated and he continues to perform his daily duties.

The pharmaceutical industry has not yet found a vaccine against borreliosis. The disease is treated by means of antibiotics. While tick-born encephalitis is usually found only in the warmer months of the year then doctors diagnose Lyme disease all year round.