The virus was discovered in 2014 and has since been reported in the Midwest, East Coast and Southern United States
Credit: Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- The first confirmed case of Bourbon virus has been identified in New York
- The rare tick-borne virus, which was discovered in 2014 in Bourbon County, Kan., has no vaccines or medications
- Experts warn the virus may be more widespread than reported due to misdiagnosis and lack of commercial testing
A man from Long Island has been diagnosed with an extremely rare, potentially fatal disease.
After Michael Larkin spotted two lone star ticks on his leg while landscaping in his Brookhaven Town backyard, the 67-year-old tested positive for the Bourbon virus, making it the first confirmed case in New York State.
“I just keep feeling worse and worse,” Larkin told CBS News, noting that he was developing chronic and intense headaches. “Three or four hours later, I would hit rock bottom and can’t get off the couch. I demanded my wife take me to the hospital, because that’s how bad it was. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
While Larkin initially tested negative for Lyme disease, a year-long antibody study led by Dr. Luis Marcos confirmed that he had the extremely rare Bourbon virus infection.
Credit: Getty
Bourbon is a rare virus that is believed to be spread by infected ticks, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms may include fever, fatigue, rash, headache, body aches, nausea and vomiting.
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“Now we know the virus can be lethal. On Long Island, at least, we have a lot of lone star ticks,” Marcos said, per CBS News. “And honestly this may be the very, very tip of the iceberg.”
The virus was first discovered in 2014 and named for Bourbon County, Kan., where the first case was identified, per the CDC.
As there have only been a few confirmed cases of Bourbon, there is a lack of commercial tests to confirm the infection, which makes diagnosis and treatment more difficult, Marcos explained in a release from Stony Brook Medicine.
“Without identifying the cause of an infection, the chances of developing accurate diagnostic tests or effective treatments are minimal,” he said. “That is why it is so important to first understand the true impact of the virus in high-risk areas.”
Marcos also emphasized that a recent study, which showed that the virus could be easily misdiagnosed as Lyme disease, highlights “the need for expanded viral surveillance, clinical testing and assay development to improve clinical decision-making and inform tick-borne disease epidemiology and vector management.”
“There are a lot of lone star ticks in New York and in the Northeast, we have dense populations, and when someone is infected with Bourbon virus symptoms they are similar to other tick-born infections,” he continued in the release. “For these reasons, the Bourbon virus is likely more prevalent than we think in our region and other cases are likely not being diagnosed.”
According to the CDC, there is currently “no vaccines or medicines are available to prevent or treat Bourbon virus disease.”
Read the full article here
