A new virus transmitted by ticks has been discovered in China

A group of scientists from China has identified a new type of virus transmitted through tick bites — the Asian longhorned tick nairovirus (ALTNV).

The results of the study were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

ALTNV was identified during the study of another disease — severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS). While examining patients diagnosed with SFTS, the scientists were unable to detect the causative agent of the illness, Dabie bandavirus, in 30% of the patients. That is how the new virus, which causes symptoms similar to SFTS, was discovered.

Like the Dabie bandavirus, ALTNV is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. After a tick bite, a person develops weakness and disruption of the digestive organs. Unlike Dabie bandavirus, it has not yet been established that infection with ALTNV leads to death. However, with simultaneous infection by both viruses, 7 out of 38 patients died.

Earlier, the newspaper South China Morning Post reported that scientists from Westlake University in the city of Hangzhou had managed to identify a "superantibody" that could probably effectively neutralize the Dabie bandavirus.

Going forward, the scientists intend to develop a vaccine to counter the dangerous disease.