A deadly new virus killed an otherwise healthy Kansas man last year in the United States, according to a CDC announcement issued on Friday which was published in its Emerging Infectious Disease journal.
The man’s death, which occurred just 11 days after he first developed symptoms, has been attributed to what officials have named the Bourbon virus, which Immortal News first reported on back in December of 2014.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcement comes after a man in eastern Kansas died late last spring.
The new virus was named for the county in which the victim died. It’s part of a group of viruses called Thogotovirus and it’s the first time such a virus has caused human illness in the United States, according to a report on Healthline.
While reports indicate it to be the first time a Thogotovirus has inflicted illness upon someone in the U.S., it’s the eighth time it’s ever happened in the world.
These types of viruses have been linked to mosquitoes and ticks in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
CDC officials indicated that the man in Kansas had numerous tick bites and that he was administered medication intended to treat tick-borne illnesses, but his condition did not improve.
Testing the man’s blood samples, the CDC was able to determine that the man had been infected with an unknown virus which officials eventually linked to the Thogotovirus group before naming it after the county in which the passed away.
The CDC indicates that it is working with state health officials in order to determine whether others have been infected with the previously unknown virus. From there, the agency hopes it will find a means through which it can prevent and treat the virus.
NBC News reports that the research team has not offered details of the deceased beyond the fact that he was otherwise healthy, under the age of 50 and that he was working on his property in Kansas last spring when he came inside with tick bites. Just a few days later, the symptoms kicked in and the man began to develop nausea, diarrhea and an overall feeling of weakness.
On the third day, the man had a fever, muscle aches and chills. He went to the doctor who prescribed an antibiotic called doxycycline which is capable of treating several tick-borne infections including one that causes Lyme disease.
By the fourth day, the patient was drifting in and out of consciousness and was subsequently rushed via ambulance to the hospital where he simply got sicker.
The man’s heart began failing, then his kidneys and eventually death took him just 11 days after he first became ill.
Are you worried about the recently discovered, deadly Bourbon virus?
