After Covid-19 China gives the world another virus, a tick-borne virus

Wherein the world is already suffering with Covid-19, China has become the host of another virus, a tick-borne virus called Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Bunyavirus or SFTSV. It has already killed seven people in east China, infecting 60 others.

As per the reports of the Chinese daily Global Times, earlier 37 people were infected with SFTSV in East China’s Jiangsu Province. Later 23 more were identified in East China’s Anhui and Zhejiang Province.

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Primary symptoms of the infection are identified as fever, coughing and decline in leukocyte, blood platelet numbers in the body. The initial fatality rate of the virus is known to be more than 30 percent.

It is not a new virus and was first identified in 2009 in rural places in China. The US health body National Centre for Biotechnology Information has been studying the virus for years now. It was found in Japan and South Korea in 2015.

The primary source for dissemination of SFTSV tick-borne virus is tick bite. However, Virologists say that the possibility of “human-to-human transmission cannot be excluded.” Sheng Jiang, a doctor from first affiliated hospital said that humans can transmit the infection through blood or mucous. Still, the primary source remains tick bite, so proper caution can prevent it. He added that there is no need to panic over it.

The tick-borne virus can be spread in cattle and other animals as well. Even migratory birds can be a carrier of the virus as they carry ticks. The vaccine of the infection is still not available.

This article will be updated soon.