BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - In a recent case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers documented the identification of a novel orthonairovirus, named Wetland virus (WELV), in a 61-year-old man who had been bitten by a tick in a wetland park in Inner Mongolia, China.
The patient was admitted to the hospital in June 2019 after experiencing fever and organ dysfunction following a tick bite five days prior. Subsequent isolation of the virus from this individual prompted researchers from the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology to conduct a comprehensive study to assess the prevalence of WELV infection among hospitalized individuals with fever and a history of tick bites.
In response to this case, the research team conducted a thorough investigation, searching for the virus in both humans and animals in the vicinity. They found WELV in a small proportion of five different tick species, with a majority of cases detected in Haemaphysalis concinna ticks, which are known carriers of other tick-borne diseases.
Additionally, the virus was identified in a limited number of sheep, horses, pigs, and Transbaikal zokor rodents. Furthermore, the researchers identified 20 potential cases of acute WELV infection in patients who had developed fever within a month of a tick bite, with 17 of them having WELV as the sole tick-borne pathogen in their systems.
Patients exhibited a range of nonspecific symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, and dizziness, with some demonstrating signs of tissue damage and blood clotting. One patient even entered a coma, displaying symptoms of neurological infection indicated by elevated white blood cells in their spinal fluid. Fortunately, all patients eventually recovered, but experiments involving the infection of mice with WELV strains from the original patient and ticks revealed that the virus could migrate to the brain, leading to fatal infections in these animals.
The researchers underscored the importance of further exploration to assess the risk WELV poses to humans and to deepen our understanding of this virus. They also discovered WELV antibodies in a small number of seemingly healthy park rangers, suggesting that the virus may not always result in illness in those who are infected, similar to other tick-borne diseases that often go unnoticed.
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