Researchers in China have identified a previously unknown tick-borne virus that causes a flu-like illness, and the tick species that carries it most often is already established across a large part of the eastern United States. No human cases of the virus have been reported in this country.
The virus, named Asian longhorned tick nairovirus or ALTNV, was described in the New England Journal of Medicine by a team led by researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity in Beijing, and reported by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. It was found at the highest rate in Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick, which the United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed in 21 states and Washington, D.C.
