Wetland Virus (WELV)
- Newly discovered orthonairovirus that can infect humans through tick bites.
- First detected in a 61-year-old patient in Jinzhou, China in June 2019 after he visited a wetland park in Inner Mongolia and was bitten by ticks.
- Patient experienced fever, headache, vomiting and symptoms resistant to antibiotics.
Transmission and Prevalence
- Researchers collected nearly 14,600 ticks from northern China, 2% tested positive for WELV.
- 5 tick species can carry the virus, with Haemaphysalis concinna ticks testing positive most often.
- Virus also detected in small percentages of sheep, horses, pigs, and rodents.
- 12 out of 640 “apparently healthy” forest rangers had antibodies to WELV.
Symptoms and Effects
- 20 patients tested positive for WELV after developing fever within a month of a tick bite.
- Common symptoms include fever, dizziness, headache, malaise, back pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
- 1 patient went into a coma due to high white blood cell counts in brain/spinal fluid.
- All patients recovered after treatment, but WELV caused lethal infections and brain damage in lab mice.
Conclusion
- WELV circulates among humans, ticks, and animals in northeastern China.
- Improving surveillance and detection is needed to understand the virus’s impact on human health.
The key takeaways are that this new tick-borne virus can infect humans, cause neurological symptoms, and potentially lead to serious illness, though more research is needed. If you develop symptoms like fever after a tick bite in northeastern China, seek medical attention and mention the possibility of WELV infection.
