What Is Wetland Virus, China’s Newly-Discovered Tick-Borne Illness That Can Infect the Brain?

• Researchers in China have discovered a new tick-borne illness, Wetland virus.
• Research shows it has the potential to invade the brain.
• Right now, China is the only country with cases.

Tick-borne infections are on the rise, causing about half a million new illnesses in America each year. But while most people are familiar on some level with infections like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, there’s a new tick-borne infection to have on your radar. It’s called Wetland virus, and it’s a newly-discovered illness spotted in China that has the potential to invade the brain.

That’s the main takeaway from a new scientific report published in The New England Journal of Medicine. For the study, scientists in China analyzed hospital data on patients who visited the hospital with a fever and a history of tick bites. They also sequenced data from a patient with an ongoing fever and multiple organ dysfunction after being bitten by a tick.

Meet the experts: Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York

Based on the findings, the researchers discovered a new tick-borne illness they’ve named Wetland virus, or WELV. But what is Wetland virus and how concerned about it should you be during tick season and beyond? Infectious disease doctors explain.

Wetland virus is a newly discovered tick-borne infection. It was detected and named after a patient who went to the hospital with persistent fever and multiple organ dysfunction after being bitten by a tick at a wetland park in Inner Mongolia.

After researchers sequenced the infection, they discovered that the patient had a new virus, which they named Wetland virus.

“It’s an orthonairovirus,” says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. That’s very different from Lyme disease, which is a bacterial infection, he points out.

“At this time, it’s very geo-specific to a northeastern region of China,” Dr. Russo says.

Wetland virus has been detected in some animals, too—sheep, horses, and pigs—and it may originate in animals but spread through the bite of ticks, Dr. Russo says. However, that isn’t totally clear at this point.

There have only been a few cases of Wetland virus detected, making it tricky to fully pin down the symptoms. However, research has uncovered a few.

“Symptoms are non-specific and include fevers, chills, and muscle aches,” says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

One of the 17 patients featured in the study also had neurological symptoms, meaning the infection had spread to the brain. “We’re always a little more concerned about neurologic symptoms,” Dr. Russo says.

Unfortunately, Wetland virus can’t be treated with antibiotics. In fact, doctors tried to treat the original patient featured in the study with antibiotics and it didn’t work. Doctors also haven’t found a treatment plan that works.

“There is no specific treatment for this virus—supportive care is what would be indicated,” Dr. Adalja says. Meaning, that doctors would recommend things like taking acetaminophen and ibuprofen for fever and muscle aches, along with drinking plenty of water and resting, if you happen to get infected with Wetland virus.

Doctors stress that Wetland virus has, as of press time, only been detected in a specific part of China. Meaning, it has not been picked up in the U.S.—or anywhere else, for that matter.

“Americans should not be concerned about this at all unless they travel to that part of the world and get tick bites,” Dr. Russo says. It’s unclear if the virus circulates outside of China and hasn’t been detected yet, but Dr. Adalja says that it “may be geographically restricted to the area in which it was discovered.”

Overall, Dr. Russo says it’s a good idea to do your best to prevent tick bites whenever you’re in areas where they live to lower your risk of getting a range of tick-borne infections. That includes doing things like staying away from areas with tall grass, brush, and leaf litter; wearing long pants; tucking your pants into your socks; and using an EPA-approved repellent that contains at least 20% DEET when you’re going into places where ticks live.

The discovery of a tick-borne infection that can invade the brain is freaky, but Dr. Russo says that scientists are discovering new illnesses all the time. “In the era of molecular diagnostics, where we can do sequencing, we’re going to identify a number of pathogens that could cause disease in humans,” he says.