(LIVE SCIENCE) – A site in Pennsylvania recently recorded the highest-ever concentration of ticks carrying a variant of potentially fatal Powassan virus called deer-tick virus (DTV). This rare virus has the potential to cause deadly infections with lasting neurological effects, and officials fear it and other serious tick-borne illnesses may become more common in the future.
Powassan virus is transmitted to humans bitten by infected female black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis). Between 2008 and 2017, most of the cases were diagnosed in and around the Great Lakes region.
The virus, which has two lineages – one of which is DTV – was first identified in 1952. While many cases of Powassan virus are asymptomatic, those that are symptomatic can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Initial symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, with the most severe cases involving neurological complications such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and meningitis. Roughly 1 in 10 neuroinvasive cases of Powassan virus are fatal, and about half of the survivors of these cases experience long-term neurological health impacts.
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