Deadly New Tick-Borne Illness ‘The Heartland Virus’ Is On The Rise

Commentary: CBS News in NY just reported on one of the newer tick-borne diseases that is on the rise: the Heartland virus. The Heartland virus is transmitted from the bite of the Lone Star tick, Ambylomma Americanum (which is in NY) and can cause a flu-like illness with fever, fatigue, headaches and muscle/joint pain. It can be mistaken for another tick-borne disease, Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis, as blood tests may look similar (low white cell counts, low platelet counts and elevated liver function tests). There is no reliable blood test nor treatment for this tick-borne viral infection. The Heartland and Powassan viruses are two newer tick-borne viral infections that are spreading, and can be transmitted simultaneously with other tick-borne bacterial and parasitic infections, like Lyme disease and Babesiosis, increasing the risk of morbidity and mortality. Commentary: Christian Perrone, PhD, MD has just published an excellent article in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology on the global challenges of Lyme disease as a public health threat. He is Professor of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine Ile-de-France Ouest, and President of the Communicable diseases commission at the High Council for Public Health in France. He is also Vice-President of the European Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization at the World Health Organization, and is the author or co-author of 218 scientific publications.

Deadly New Tick-Borne Illness ‘The Heartland Virus’ Is On The Rise, CBS New York