The man suffered several tick bites in the summer of 2014 and later fell ill and eventually was admitted to the hospital. Samples from the patient did not test positive for a variety of tickborne illnesses, like Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease or ehrlichiosis. Eleven days after he first became ill, he passed away.
A sample of the patient’s blood was sent to the CDC for additional testing after further tests came back negative for various infectious diseases. The CDC test showed an unidentified virus in the blood sample, and using Advanced Molecular Detection, determined it was a new virus.
The virus was named Bourbon virus for the county in Kansas where the patient lived. It is in a group of viruses called thogotoviruses. This is just the eighth known case of thogotoviruses causing symptoms in people, and the first time a virus in this group has done so in the U.S.
Though it is still currently unknown how the virus is transmitted to humans, CDC officials and others who worked on the virus recommend using insect repellent that is effective against ticks, as well as wearing long sleeves and pants and performing tick checks after being outdoors.
“It is currently not known how many human infections and disease cases might be attributable to this novel pathogen,” researchers wrote in Emerging Infectious Diseases. “Work is planned to identify additional human infections with this novel virus, as well as to explore its potential geographic distribution. Also more comprehensive virologic characterizations and field work are ongoing to better understand the biology of, and to identify potential vectors and reservoirs for, Bourbon virus.”
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