Doctors Detect First Ever Deadly Tick-borne Virus that Hides in the Brain
A new tick-borne virus that can trigger deadly brain infections has been discovered in humans for the first time.
Officials believe the unidentified man, from China, got infected after he was bitten by ticks while visiting a park in Mongolia.
Dubbed wetland virus (WELV), tests have since shown it has now infected nearly two dozen people.
Spread by ticks and farm animals, the potentially fatal infection joins a long roster of diseases passed by tiny parasites, like Lyme disease and malaria.
It was first detected in the 61-year-old hospital patient while being treated in Jinzhou in 2019. But medics have only released the report this month.
It was only when they failed to subside that doctors realised the man was suffering a viral infection rather than a bacterial one.
Blood tests then identified a previously unknown orthonairovirus, a group of related viruses, many of which are transmitted by ticks.
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), one better-known as orthonairovirus, can prove fatal in up to 40 per cent of cases.
They found that five different tick species could carry the virus. But the Haemaphysalis concinna tick was the most common.
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After testing hospital patients who had developed a similar fever to the unidentified 61-year-old, within a month of a tick bite, they found 20 were positive for the virus.
Those infected with WELV most commonly suffered dizziness, headaches, back pain, nausea and diarrhoea.
But tests also showed the virus could even cause tissue damage and blood clotting issues.
One WELV-infected patient slipped into a coma and showed a high level of white blood cells around the brain and spinal cord.
However, all patients recovered after treatment and were discharged within four to 15 days, according to the researchers.
Lab experiments on mice later found WELV could cause severe, often fatal infections, affecting multiple organs including the brain and nervous system.
This suggests that while the virus may be mild in some cases, it could cause more severe health issues in more vulnerable patients.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers said: ‘Taken together, these data suggest that a newly discovered orthonairovirus, WELV, is [pathogenic] to humans … and circulates among humans, ticks and various animals in northeastern China.
‘Improving surveillance and detection for emerging orthonairoviruses will allow a better understanding of the effect that these viruses have on human health.’
SOURCE: Daily Trust
