SOUTH KOREA REPORTS FIRST DEATH FROM TICK BITE TRANSMITTED SFTS VIRUS

 

South Korea this week has reported the first case of SFTS, or thrombocytopenia syndrome virus after being bitten by a tick. 

The woman, a 63 year old was bitten by a tick during farmwork, in the northern province of Kangwon. 

The first symptoms she exhibited were diarrhea and high fever. 

She is one of 5 suspected cases of the infection in South Korea, as documented by the local CDC, who has been monitoring the tick borne illness since the outbreak in Japan. 

In China too there have been recorded cases.

Since 2005, 13 people in Japan have been infected with the virus through a tick bite, and 8 of them have died. 

This, however, is the first confirmed case in South Korea.  There may also be another unconfirmed case of the virus in Cheju Island which is not being investigated.  It is believed he too has died from the virus.  

The tick that carries the virus is indigenous to South Korea, and is the kind that lives int he fields, and different from the ones that can be found indoors. 

Source : NHK  5.21.13