Japanese scientists have discovered a new virus in Japan that is transmitted through tick bites and is believed to cause fever, according to materials published in the journal Nature Communications.
The study was conducted by Japanese virologists Fumihiro Kodama, Hiroki Yamaguchi and Keita Matsuno. They gave the new virus the name Yezo (YEZV) – in honor of the ancient historical name of the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
The infection, according to experts, was detected in two patients who were bitten by ticks in Hokkaido, in 2019 and 2020. The patients then noted thrombocytopenia (a decrease in the number of platelets in the bloodstream), leukopenia (a decrease in leukocytes in the blood), as well as an increase in liver enzymes and ferritin. The virus was later confirmed in seven more patients who were bitten by a tick between 2014 and 2020.
According to the study, scientists screened samples for the virus in wild animals in the area from 2010 to 2020 and found antibodies to the new virus in deer and raccoons, and the RNA of the virus itself in three main species of ticks on Hokkaido Island.
In this study, the scientists do not claim that Yeso is the causative agent of fever, but insist on it with a “high degree of probability.”
Earlier in China, the head of the local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Gao Fu said that humanity will face a new “X virus” in the future. However, he did not name the symptoms of the new virus. According to him, the virus can occur anytime, anywhere.
To solve the problem, he proposed the “principle of four Cs”: “cooperation, competition, communication and coordination”. The head of the CDC also stressed that today humanity is fighting not only against the coronavirus pandemic, but also against “infodemia, when relevant information and misinformation are intertwined.”
