Two farmers from northwest Missouri became severely ill from tick bites. After tests, epidemiologists were able to determine this was not your normal illness from a tick bit, but a new discovery. Click below to read more.
“It’s brand new to the world,” said William Nicholson with the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s unique in that it’s never been found elsewhere and it is the first phlebovirus found to cause illness in humans in the Western Hemisphere. At this point we don’t know how widespread it may be, or whether it’s found in other states. We don’t know how many people in Missouri may have had this virus, as the finding of a completely new virus was a surprise to us.”
Nicholson, one of the authors of the report detailing the two cases published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, suspects the new virus is a member of the tick-borne phlebovirus and is a distant cousin to Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV), a virus found in central and northeastern China and known to cause death in 13 to 30% of patients.
At the moment, Nicholson said, there is no cause for concern. “I don’t think anyone should be worried. We are not worried … we are curious of what role the virus plays in human disease.”
Tick-borne diseases are on the rise in the United States. And while this new disease might not be tick-borne, ticks are the number-one suspect. Nicholson says people should use repellent, check themselves for bites or ticks, and avoid certain areas – if possible – that might serve as good habitats for ticks, such as wooded areas and areas with fallen leaves.
