The tick bite already known to transmit Lyme disease would also be responsible for contamination by the “Bourbon” virus, a deadly virus that killed a healthy man in 11 days, according to the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A healthy 50-year-old man was repeatedly bitten by ticks. Following these attacks, he complained of fever, nausea and headache. Initially, he was treated with doxycycline, an antibiotic that treats several types of infections due to bacteria or protozoa, recalls the report of the review of emerging infectious diseases of the CDC (Emerging Infectious Diseases journal) . But his condition worsened as the infection affected kidney and lung functions. He died 11 days after the first symptoms appeared. Since the spring of 2014, the health authorities have sought to identify the cause of this sudden death. They identified a new virus which they named Bourbon after the name of the county where the patient lived.
“The results of numerous tests for a large number of infectious diseases being negative, a sample of the patient’s blood was sent to a CDC laboratory for additional analyzes,” recalls the report. “CDC researchers have determined that this is a new virus, after using advanced molecular detection technology (AMD).”
“This kind of virus from the thogotovirus family could be transmitted by ticks or other insects (such as mosquitoes). Indeed, this group of viruses is linked to ticks or mosquitoes in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, ”CDC researchers say.
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