The most dangerous hemipteron in the United States helped kill a New York resident physician , state health officialsreportedThursday . The piece is believe to have died from a viral disease spread by ticks call Powassan fever . Though cases of Powassan remain rare , it ’s one of many tickborne diseases that are becoming more common .
According to the Ulster County Department of Health , the local house physician had succumbed to the disease earlier this week . His demise also marks the first reported case of Powassan in the res publica this yr . The state say it image anywhere from zero to six cases annually .
“ It is imperative that all residents take every safeguard necessary against tick - borne illnesses , peculiarly during outside activities . house physician should vigilantly check themselves and their pets for ticks and tick bites , ” said Carol Smith , Ulster County Commissioner of Health and Mental Health , in astatementThursday .
The female deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), seen here laying eggs, can spread several diseases, including the Powassan virus.Photo: Sue Partridge (CDC)
https://gizmodo.com/mosquitos-are-spreading-a-rare-brain-infecting-virus-i-1836821356
The nut - shapedPowassan virusis link to other virus transmitted by six- and eight - legged critters , like Zika , dengue and yellow fever . It ’s spread by the bloodsucking bite of three Ixodes species of check mark in the U.S.—the calamitous - legged or deer tick , the squirrel check mark , and the groundhog mark ; these ticks overtake the computer virus from infected rodent . But of the three mintage , only the deer tick , which also pass around Lyme disease , regularly bites people . Like the deer check mark , case of Powassan are typically limited to the eastern one-half of the U.S.
People infected withPowassanoften do n’t show any symptoms . But when people do get sick , they usually suffer from fever , headache , vomit , and general muscle helplessness . An unlucky few can also develop a severe neurologic infection . Of these more serious infection , close to 10 percent of people die , while half are left with linger neurological job . There is no current specific intervention or vaccinum for Powassan .
In the instance of the Ulster humankind , wellness official reported that he had underlying aesculapian conditions , which might have contributed to his last .
These deadlier neurological infections of Powassan are rarefied . fit in to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , there were only 21 such casesreportedin the country in 2018 . And in New York , there were 19 cases reported in the last X up to 2018 .
More than anything , though , this latest eccentric is a particularly gruesome reminder that ticks and insects are form us sicker and sicker ( thanks in part to clime change ) . Powassan is low on the priority leaning , butreported casesof unwellness triggered by tick , mosquitoes , and flea bites more than tripled from 2004 to 2016 and have cover to increase , accord to the CDC . ticking are the largest perpetrator , with Lyme disease being the most common sickness , but we ’re continually discovering new tickborne disease and shape .
Given that the time of year for ticks protract from late spring to come down , anyone who regularly ventures to or live on in grassy , brushy or wooded area should do as much as they can to protect themselves from pungency .
The CDCrecommendstreating your clothes and gear with repellents moderate 0.5 % permethrin ( pre - treated clothes exercise too ) when outdoors , while mass should spray repellant containing DEET , picaridin , IR3535 , Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus ( OLE ) , Para River - menthane - diol ( PMD ) , or 2 - undecanone on themselves . afterwards , people should turn back themselves , their pet , or their clothes for tick , possibly while direct a shower , within two hour of coming inside .
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