A new tick-borne disease called Wetland virus was recently found in China, leading scientists to issue a warning in a recent medical journal publication.
Fox News reported that the Wetland virus is a member of the orthonairovirus genus of viruses and that an individual was previously infected with the virus in 2019 in Inner Mongolia, China. However, the virus was not identified until a new study was published earlier this month by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study noted that a 61-year-old man received medical attention due to a “persistent fever and multiple organ dysfunction” after a tick bit him at a wetland park. According to Fox News, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology researchers isolated the virus and eventually identified it as Wetland virus.
By conducting laboratory testing, researchers were able to detect the virus in 17 other patients in China. The study noted, “These patients presented with nonspecific symptoms, including fever, dizziness, headache, malaise, myalgia, arthritis, and back pain and less frequently with petechiae and localized lymphadenopathy. One patient had neurologic symptoms. Common laboratory findings were leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated d-dimer and lactate dehydrogenase levels.”
The study found that the virus caused brain damage and death when injected into hamsters and mice. Researchers also noted that diagnosing the new Wetland virus could be difficult due to the typical symptoms of the disease matching the symptoms of a “non-specific illness.”
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The researchers stated, “Improving surveillance and detection for emerging orthonairoviruses will allow a better understanding of the effect that these viruses have on human health.”
The study noted that all of the patients recovered without any long-term effects after receiving antiviral medications, immunoglobulin therapy, or antibiotics.
According to Fox News, the Wetland virus’ RNA was detected in five different species of ticks. The virus’ RNA was also found in horses, pigs, sheep, and rodents in China.
Despite the dangers presented by the new disease, Dr. Edward Liu, Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s chief of infectious diseases, told Fox News that tick-borne diseases do not usually spread quickly. Liu explained, “They slowly expand their territory as ticks shift their environments but are nothing like respiratory viruses, which transmit much more easily and literally can spread from continent to continent in one day.”
Liu told Fox News that viruses that live in ticks can be specific to certain species of ticks. As a result, Liu said the viruses “don’t automatically transfer to ticks in the U.S.” Liu warned that the people most at risk of contracting the Wetland virus are “elderly people and immunocompromised patients.” However, he added that he was “not worried about a COVID-19-type pandemic.”
