Korean CDC Alert For SFTS
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Catching up on an emerging disease we last looked at in February of this year (see Japan Announces 4th SFTS Fatality) – Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) – caused by a tick borne Bunyavirus, has recently been confirmed in Korea.
To date over three hundred Bunyaviruses have been identified around the world, with rodents often cited as carriers. While not all Bunyaviruses are dangerous to humans (some only infect plants), the Bunyavirus family include such nasties as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Hantaviruses, and Rift Valley Fever.
Most are spread via arthropod vectors (ticks, mosquitoes & sand flies), with the exception of Hantaviruses (see Hantaviruses Revisited), which are spread via the feces and urine of rodents.
SFTS first came to our attention in the spring and summer of 2009 after outbreaks were identified in China’s Hubei and Henan provinces. While ticks were suspected as vectors, the pathogen behind this disease was not initially known.
In 2011, the NEJM published a study Fever with Thrombocytopenia Associated with a Novel Bunyavirus in China. STFS has been associated with a 12% mortality rate in China.
Earlier this year (see SFTS Fatality Reported In Japan) we learned of the first known SFTS case in the country of Japan, and since then at least 15 cases have been identified in Japan (with 8 fatalities).
Last month, while our attentions were focused primarily on H7N9 and MERS-CoV, Korea’s CDC announced that retrospective testing of a patient who died in 2012 had confirmed Korea’s first known death from the SFTS causing virus (see Korea Times story First death by SFTS virus from tick bite confirmed).
The story goes on to say that another death was suspected, and that five others had been hospitalized with similar symptoms.
Fast forward to today, and the Yonhap News Agency is reporting on three additional deaths in Korea, now attributed to this virus.
Disease control agency says tick-borne virus kills four South Koreans
SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- A deadly tick-borne virus has killed four South Koreans and sickened two others, the state-run disease control agency said Monday.
The severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus killed a 63-year-old woman in the country's eastern region in August last year, though her infection of the virus was confirmed last month, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
It was the country's first death caused by the virus, the KCDC said.
Last month, the virus also killed three other South Koreans -- a 73-year-old man and an 82-year-old woman, both in the country's southern resort island of Jeju, and a 74-year-old woman in the southeastern region, according to the KCDC.
If you visit the Korean CDC’s homepage you’ll find an SFTS Q&A, a reporting Hotline 043-719-7086, and a a brief press release on the identified cases.
As with many emerging and re-emerging pathogens, the Bunyavirus behind these infections has almost certainly in the environment, and causing human illness, for many, many years.
We are only now starting to recognize SFTS as a specific illness, and with modern diagnostic tests, can now identify the causative virus. Whether this virus’s geographic range is expanding, or its incidence in humans is increasing, is something we simply don’t know yet.
But tickborne diseases certainly appear to be on the rise in the United States and around the world, with Lyme disease alone blamed for 20,000+ infections each year (MMWR Lyme Disease --- United States, 2003—2005).
The CDC lists a number of diseases carried by ticks in the United States. Included are:
Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis , Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Rickettsia parkeri Rickettsiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness), Tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF), Tularemia, and 364D Rickettsiosis.
And last year in New Phlebovirus Discovered In Missouri we learned of another emerging virus carried by ticks, dubbed the `Heartland Virus’.
Whether a new and emerging threat, or simply noticed now due to our ability to recognize a long-time nemesis – without a vaccine – your best bet is to avoid infection. So it makes sense to take precautions against ticks and other vector-borne diseases.
This from the Minnesota Department of Health.
Lastly, the CDC offers advice on:
While it is a good idea to take preventive measures against ticks year-round, be extra vigilant in warmer months (April-September) when ticks are most active.
