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Dangerous tick viruses Patient deceased from infection by cat bite
In Japan, a woman has died from a disease that is usually transmitted by ticks. The 50-year-old had the infection but not on the small bloodsucker, but apparently contracted by a cat bite.
Transmitted deadly disease by cat bite
In Germany, ticks can transmit dangerous infectious diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) or Lyme disease. In parts of East Asia, the small bloodsuckers can also pass on a pathogen that is life-threatening: the SFTS virus (Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome). A Japanese woman who has died from such an infection, but apparently not infected by a tick, but by a cat bite.
In Japan, a 50-year-old woman died after a cat bite. Apparently she has been infected by the bite with the dangerous SFTS virus. The pathogen is usually transmitted by ticks. (Image: Saklakova / fotolia.com) Died of infection with the SFTS virus
In Japan, a 50-year-old woman died of SFTS virus infection after a cat bite, news agency AFP reports. According to the Ministry of Health, the incident occurred last year.
SFTS (German: heavy-fever-with-thrombocytopenia syndrome) is common in parts of East Asia. Usually the disease is transmitted by ticks.
According to experts, the illness, which includes severe fever, vomiting, diarrhea and multiple organ failure, is fatal in up to 30 percent of cases.
Maybe first case worldwide
Although in the past there has been occasional reports of human-to-human transmission of the tick virus through blood contact, it is still unknown that a human died after biting another animal infected with the virus.
"So far, such reports are not available," said a spokeswoman for the Japanese Ministry of Health, according to AFP. "It's not yet confirmed that the virus came from the cat - but it may be the first case worldwide."
According to the information, the woman died ten days after taking a stray and sick cat to the vet.
Because the doctors diagnosed her with SFTS, but did not detect a tick bite, they suspect that the patient had been infected by the bite of the cat.
There is no vaccine against the disease
SFTS has been operating in Asia for some time, notably in China, Japan and South Korea. There is no vaccine or medication for the disease, only its symptoms can be treated.
According to the Ministry of Health, 60 people in Japan are infected with the SFTS virus every year, about 20 percent of them are dying.
"The first SFTS patient in Japan was identified in the fall of 2012," says the journal Uirusu. In China, the virus was already endemic in 2011.
The ministry now warns the population against caring for sick strays. (Ad)