A brand new virus has been found in southeast Kansas. After becoming infected with it, the patient has died and researchers do not know for sure where it came from.

When the patient first showed up at the doctor’s office, they thought that he might have some kind of tick-borne virus. His symptoms were similar and they wanted to test his illness to verify what he had. He had a fever, fatigue, and changes in his blood count.

Other symptoms included muscle aches, damage to the blood platelets, and elevated liver enzymes. One other symptom, which is not present with the similar Heartland disease, was that he also had a lack of a desire to eat anything – anorexia.

They tested for ehrlichiosis and also for the new Heartland virus disease, which was discovered in 2012. The tests turned up negative, and the doctors soon realized they had not seen the disease before.

The patient somehow contracted the virus during this past summer. The new disease is now called the Bourbon virus, which is named after the county the patient lived in – Bourbon County.

The Department of Health and Environment in Kansas and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have analyzed the virus and confirm that it is new. So far, there are no other confirmed cases of the same illness. Since the Bourbon virus is so new, there are not any vaccines or established treatments for it yet. The only patient has died.

Another unknown in this case is that doctors are not sure how the patient got the virus. While it is similar to other tick-borne diseases, it is not actually known for certain if it came from a tick, or from some other kind of insect.

One more unknown is that the researchers are not sure if the virus actually killed the patient, or if it led to conditions that ultimately killed the patient. More research will need to be performed – when there are more patients.

The genome for the virus has been analyzed. It was concluded that there are no viruses like it in the entire Western hemisphere, but there are similar ones in the East. It has taken six weeks to identify this much about it. The doctor that performed this analysis, Dana Hawkins, said that the viruses that are similar rarely ever cause illness in people or animals.

Because the Bourbon virus is a virus and not a bacteria, it means that treatment options are limited. Antibiotics cannot be used in this case, because they are ineffective against viruses.

Being that there has only been one case so far, it is unknown as to whether or not this virus exists in other parts of the United States. When possible, ticks will be collected in various places and then tested for this particular illness. People are generally safe over the winter from most illnesses caused by ticks. They are not around during the cold months, and so bites are highly unlikely.

In the warmer months, safeguards can be taken such as wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants when going outdoors. Other precautions that offer a good amount of protection in the warmer months are to use an insect repellant and avoid walking in high grass. It is also advised not to allow children to sleep next to dogs.