Ticks, tiny but dangerous disease vectors, are responsible for the transmission of more than 25 infections in both humans and animals.. Although many people are aware of diseases such as Lyme disease, other tick-borne diseases have begun to emerge, and some of them have only recently been discovered.
A notable example is the wetland virus, first identified in 2019 in Inner Mongolia, China, following the hospitalization of a patient with fever, vomiting, and multiple organ dysfunction. Chinese researchers revealed details of this new virus in a study that highlights its potential as an emerging threat.
The virus was discovered when a man, bitten by a tick during a visit to a wetland park, developed severe symptoms. Doctors, conducting genetic testing of material taken from his blood, identified an unknown virus that turned out to be a close relative of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, known for its high mortality of around 30%.
This new virus, called “wetland virus”, belongs to the genus Orthonairovirus of the family Nairoviridaewhich groups together several dangerous pathogens.
The researchers decided to expand their study to detect other cases of wetland virus infection. They analyzed patients from northeastern China who had experienced acute fever after being bitten by ticks.
Thus, they managed to identify 17 additional cases of this infection, which suggests that the virus is already established in the region. The severity of these findings prompted the team to conduct a broader ecological study to understand the source of the virus.
Wetland virus reservoir
In this study, they examined both ticks and various animals in the region, including livestock and wildlife, since animals often act as reservoirs for tick-borne pathogens. They found that some sheep, horses and pigs were infected with the virus, reinforcing the hypothesis that livestock could be an important reservoir for the wetland virus.
Although it has only been detected in northeastern China so far, the concern is that this virus could be more widespread than thought. The tick involved in its transmission has a much wider distribution in Asia and Europe, which could mean other countries are at risk of facing outbreaks. The identification of new cases in patients with unexplained fever or in animals in other regions of the world could confirm this concern.
One of the key challenges in detecting these diseases is that many of them present with non-specific symptoms, such as fever and headache, making them difficult to distinguish from other common infections.
Additionally, unlike diseases such as the flu or COVID-19, tick-borne infections are not contagious, which reduces the visibility of outbreaks, although not their danger.
Fortunately, modern genetic sequencing techniques, such as those used to identify the wetland virus, are helping scientists detect new pathogens more quickly. However, medical knowledge about many of these diseases is still limited, especially in areas where diagnostic resources are scarce.
In addition to the emergence of new diseases, those already established are changing their geographical distribution. Climate change plays an important role in tick activity, as warmer temperatures and higher humidity favor their proliferation. in areas where they could not survive before.
This has been evident in the spread of tick-borne encephalitis, which had historically been limited to Asia and central and eastern Europe, but has now begun to be reported in countries such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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