So far, the virus has been found only in northeastern China, but it could potentially have a much wider range, experts say.

The first case was a 42-year-old female farmer from the town of Alongshan who mysteriously ill with a fever, headache, and a history of tick bites, min April 2017.

© Image | The New England Journal of Medicine

When initial testing did not identify a known cause of infection, further workup was undertaken, including viral culture, electron microscopy, and subsequent genetic and serologic analyses. 

The investigation identified a novel segmented RNA virus (named Alongshan virus [ALSV]) that belongs in the jingmenvirus group of the Flaviviridae family, and which was later found in Ixodes persulcatus ticks collected in the region. 

Further surveillance between May and September 2017 at the same hospital identified 86 additional hospitalized patients with ALSV infection.

The researchers suspect the virus is transmitted by the taiga tick (Ixodes persulcatus), which is found in parts of eastern Europe and Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia. 

At present, fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome has mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hebei, and Liaoning. 

The most typical sign of tick bite: burnt scab

© Image | Google

Ticks prefer warm, moist areas of the body. Once a tick gets on your body, they’re likely to migrate to your armpits, groin, or hair. When they’re in a desirable spot, they bite into your skin and begin drawing blood.

The clinical symptoms of infection were nonspecific but most commonly included headache, fever(mostly more than 38℃), and fatigue. A minority of patients had coma, nausea, myalgia, arthralgia, rash, petechiae, or other symptoms. 

Ticks are small, blood-sucking bugs. They can range in size from as small as a pin’s head to as large as a pencil eraser. Ticks have eight legs. They’re arachnids, which means they’re related to spiders.

© Image | Google

The different kinds of ticks can range in color from shades of brown to reddish brown and black.

As they take in more blood, ticks grow. At their largest, ticks can be about the size of a marble. After a tick has been feeding on its host for several days, they become engorged and can turn a greenish-blue color.

If you’ve spent any time outdoors, you’ve likely encountered ticks at some point. Wear a long sleeve shirt and pants when walking in the woods or grassy areas where ticks are common. Just be careful!

© Image | Google

Tick bites are often harmless, in which case they don’t cause any noticeable symptoms. However, ticks can cause allergic reactions, and certain ticks can pass diseases onto humans and pets when they bite. These can be dangerous or even deadly. The fatality rate of this disease is 12.7% to 32.6%,

The most important thing to do when you find a tick on you is to remove it. You can remove the tick yourself with a tick removal tool or with a set of tweezers. Follow these steps:

© Image | Google

• Grasp the tick as close as you can to your skin’s surface.

• Pull straight up and away from the skin, applying steady pressure. Try not to bend or twist the tick.

• Check the bite site to see if you left any of the tick’s head or mouth parts in the bite. If so, remove those.

• Clean the bite site with soap and water.

• Once you’ve removed the tick, submerge it in rubbing alcohol to make sure it’s dead. Place it in a sealed container.

It’s suggested that you should see the doctor as soon as possible, Timely treatment is necessary based on the type of tick that bit you. Different regions or countries have different risks.