Posted on 08/29/2012 8:13:24 PM PDT by blam
New 'Heartland' Virus Discovered In Sick Missouri Farmers
Aug 29, 2012 5:00 PM ET
Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer
Two men in Missouri who became severely ill after sustaining tick bites were found to be infected with a new type of virus, according to a study from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both men were admitted to hospitals after experiencing high fevers, fatigue, diarrhea and loss of appetite. They were originally thought to be suffering from a bacterial infection, but doubts arose when they didn't improve after being treated with antibiotics.
Further tests revealed their blood contained a new virus, which the researchers dubbed the Heartland virus. It belongs to a group called phleboviruses, which are carried by flies, mosquitoes or ticks, and can cause disease in humans.
Flu like symptoms BaptistMedicalGroup.orgPrompt Care. No appt. needed. Check out our locations and hours.K9 Advantix® II for dogs petparents.com/k9advantixiifordogsRepel Fleas and Ticks Away from Your Dog with K9 Advantix® II.(5) Signs of Bi Polar encyclopediafactica.com/5-SignsThese (5) Signs of Depression May Shock You! Learn More Now.Ads by GoogleWhile the genetic material of Heartland virus appears similar to that of other phleboviruses, the particular proteins it produces are different enough to call it a new species, said study researcher Laura McMullan, a senior scientist at the CDC.
Because the Heartland virus causes such general symptoms, it could be "a more common cause of human illness than is currently recognized," the researchers wrote in the Aug. 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
More studies are needed to identify the natural hosts of the virus, learn how many people are infected with it and find risk factors for infection, McMullan said.
Because both men experienced tick bites shortly before they became ill — one man, a farmer, reported receiving an average of 20 tick bites a day — the researchers said it's likely that the Heartland virus is spread by ticks, although more research is needed to confirm this.
The new virus's closest relative is another tick-borne phlebovirus, called SFTS virus, which was identified last year in China, and causes death in 12 percent of cases.
The Missouri men, who were both infected in 2009, recovered after 10 to 12 days in the hospital, although one of the men has reported recurrent headaches and fatigue in the two years since his hospitalization.
The researchers suspect a species of tick commonly found in Missouri, called Amblyomma americanum, is one of the hosts of the Heartland virus.
For now, taking precautions to prevent tick bites is the best way to avoid the virus, McMullan said. To prevent tick bites, the CDC recommends using repellents that contain 20 percent or more DEET, as well as avoiding wooded areas or areas with high grass.
Pass it on: The Heartland virus is a new species of virus that can cause severe illness in people, and appears to be carried by ticks.
Wait a few days. The leaves on the stuff you sprayed will turn yellow -- then you can easily see what still needs to be sprayed.
What those farmers need to do is to contact “Rent A Big Flock O’ Ducks, Inc.”
Ducks will clear a large area of a heavy infestation of ticks in about a week. They are very thorough. Unless there are tall bushes or trees for the ticks to hide it, they, along with most other insects, will be cleared out.
NE Mississippi in the Spring is a bad time for ticks here. This Spring, I would spray the DEET and even put coal oil on hay strings around my feet before working in the woods. I still found several ticks on me at night. This year has been extremely bad.
>> I can categorically state that you are not a “legitimate” tick.
You have a lot of nerve, FRiend. You don’t even KNOW my parents.
That really hurtz.
On the Bring Out Your Dead ping list, please my dear Nully?
Added!
Thank you, sir!
Thanks for the ping!
Awww! You’re so cute! Polite, too.
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
And bee, hornet and wasp stings are the same thing for me. The first one wasn’t so bad but each subsequent sting is worse than the last. The last time I was stung by a wasp on my finger a few years ago, my hand swelled up to over the size of a soft ball. My throat didn’t close up but I noticed that I was breathing more heavily after an hour or so and that my eye lids swelled and that I itched all over my body. The swelling and redness went from my finger and hand and all the way up past my elbow. The pain at the sting site was unbearable for over a well over a week – like there was acid burning under my skin.
As far as Lyme disease, a friend of mine contracted it but wasn’t diagnosed until long after the bite she didn’t know she had. She suffered for nearly a year with the debilitating symptoms until she was properly diagnosed due to a lab test and given treatment (anti-biotics) for it. But she now has arthritis in her joints that will probably never go away and she is only in her mid thirties.
Don’t spray poison ivy cut the stem close to the ground and pour a little bit of stump killer on the cut end. It will go down to the root and kill it. Some of us are so sensitive to the spray that if we breathe it, it would kill us.
I remember a few years ago a professional football player was spraying his lawn with weed killer and it closed up his throat and he died.
Most people wouldn’t be hurt by it but some of us react in serious ways.
That is exactly what was happening. The primary poison in most wasp, bee, and ant stings is formic acid, the simplest (single carbon) organic acid, HCOOH.
I don't react allergically to it, but I've had a couple of red wasp stings on my fingers, and they feel (and my body reacts) exactly as if they were electric shocks...
Back in the "prehistoric" days of wringer washing machines, I was always getting stung (knocking wasp nests down to get the larvae for fish bait). My mother's home remedy was "bluing" -- the blue liquid added to the wash to brighten whites. It worked -- because a main ingredient was ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH -- a base that neutralizes acids).
I now keep a bottle of household ammonia around for the same purpose... Apply immediately -- IT WORKS!
That method is, indeed, best for small infestations -- but I'm dealing with 65 acres of forested land. I frequently work from my tractor, spray after I've "bush-hogged" (leaving short, cut stems), stay upwind, and use a narrow stream from the pump sprayer. Ortho "Brush-B-Gon", properly diluted, seems to be doing the job...
For the record, I had nothing to do with this virus...
For the record, I had nothing to do with this virus...
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