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March 24, 2022 – 10:14 am Clock
Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta have found out: In the US state of Georgia, the heartland virus, which is dangerous for humans, spreads via the so-called single star tick (Amblyomma americanum), which gets its name from the star-shaped white spot on its back.
What is Heartland Virus?
Heartland virus was first detected in Missouri in 2009. There, two men had contracted the virus and had been hospitalized due to severe symptoms. Among other things, they suffered from high fever, diarrhea, muscle pain and a deficiency white blood cells. Symptoms common to other tick-borne diseases, such as the Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) or the Lyme-Borreliose, resemble. Researchers soon discovered that the men were infected with a novel virus that is transmitted to humans via ticks.
Since then, according to the US agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 50 cases of the virus have been detected in people from a total of eleven states in the Midwest and Southeast of the United States.
The Emory University study, published in March 2022 in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, now provides further insight into how the novel virus spreads geographically through lone star ticks.
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“We’re trying to stay one step ahead of this virus”
The heartland virus is a newly emerged infectious disease that has not yet been well researched, explains study leader Professor Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec in a press release from the university. “We’re trying to stay ahead of this virus by learning everything we can regarding it before it potentially becomes a bigger problem.”
In their study, the researchers detected heartland virus in three different samples of single-star ticks found at different locations in Georgia. A subsequent genetic analysis showed that the genomes of the three virus samples were similar. At the same time, they differed significantly from heartland virus samples collected outside of the state of Georgia.
“These results suggest that the virus may be evolving very rapidly in different geographic locations,” study leader Vazquez-Prokopec is quoted as saying in the Emory University press release. However, it is also possible that the virus mainly circulates in isolated areas and only spreads slowly between these areas. However, how exactly the virus is transmitted from animal to animal needs to be researched further.
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Researchers see no reason to panic
“Tick-borne diseases are a real and growing threat,” said Vazquez-Prokopec. However, the researcher does not believe in panic. Rather, the best way to deal with diseases like heartland virus is to “do the scientific work necessary to learn everything we can regarding them.” (and)
