Tick-carriers of the new viral infection SFTS detected in China live in Russia and are common in the Far East, but the virus has not yet been found in these arachnids in our country. Virologist Mikhail Shchelkanov told Izvestia about this.
According to the specialist, the pathogen does not belong to respiratory infections, so it cannot get widespread. But the mortality rate from SFTS reaches 30%, which indicates its serious danger.
In the scientific article “On the Northern Border of the Range and the Owners of the Haemaphysalis longicornis Tick in the Primorsky Territory” it is said that sika deer, cattle, horses, dogs, Himalayan bears, Amur forest cats, badgers and Asian chipmunks can be used to feed the ticks. These ticks are also found in leopards.
China has recorded an outbreak of acute fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome caused by the Huaiyangshan virus. Called bunyavirus, dhabi bandavirus or SFTS virus in the scientific literature, it causes severe fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome. At the moment, the mortality rate in China is 11.6%.
Read the full version of the material in Izvestia:
Stretch out with ticks: carriers of the SFTS virus live in Russia