Japan finds an emerging viral disease transmitted from animals to humans
Date 06 Oct. 2021 time 16:10
Japanese researchers have found a previously unknown virus that can infect humans and cause disease.
A team of researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan has found a new virus, dubbed Yezo virus, that infects humans through flea bites. The patient will have a high fever. Platelets and white blood cells that fight foreign substances that enter the body are low.
The virus was discovered in 2019 after a 41-year-old man was hospitalized with fever and leg pain after he was bitten by an animal thought to be fleas while hiking in Hokkaido.
This man has tested negative for all tick-borne viruses. And was discharged from the hospital after two weeks of treatment. In 2020, another patient was admitted with symptoms similar to the first man and was also bitten by a flea and tick.
The researchers then analyzed the genes from the blood samples of the two patients and found a new virus: orthonairovirus It is in the nairovirus family, which also includes the virus that causes Crimean-Congo dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is also transmitted through tick bites.
The researchers then began tracking the virus in blood samples of patients hospitalized since 2014 with similar symptoms. And Ezo virus was found in at least 5 patients, all of whom had a high fever. decreased platelets and white blood cells including liver malfunction
Keita Matsuno, a virologist who was part of the research team, said: “At least seven patients have been infected with this emerging virus in Japan since 2014, but so far no deaths have been confirmed.”
The team also examined blood samples collected from wildlife in the 10 years since 2010. Ezovirus antibodies were found in raccoons and Hokkaido seika, which are native to Hokkaido. Asovirus RNA was also found in three large species of fleas across the island of Hokkaido.
Matsuno revealed that “It seems that the Ezo virus has started spreading from Hokkaido. And there is a high likelihood that the virus can cause disease when it is transmitted from animal to person through ticks and fleas… Not all cases of asovirus infection known to us so far have resulted in death. But it is highly likely that the disease has spread outside of Hokkaido.”
The Ezovirus is named after the ancient island of Hokkaido where the virus was first discovered. The emerging virus is closely related to Sulina virus and Tamdy virus, which are found in Romania and Uzbekistan respectively. The tamdee virus has been reported to cause acute human fever in China recently.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
ภาพ: wikipedia/James Gathany Content Providers(s): CDC/ Michael L. Levin, Ph. D.
<!–
–>
.
