At least 7 people have died and 60 more have been infected by a new tick-borne virus in China. According to the Indian Express, warnings have been made about possible human-to-human transmission.
More than 37 people in East China’s Jiangsu Province contracted with the virus in the first half of the year. Later it was found that 23 more people had been infected in East China’s Anhui province.
The SFTS virus is not a new virus BTW. China has isolated pathogen in 2011 and classified it into the Bunyavirus category.
While it is believed that the infection might have passed on to humans through tick bites, virologists warn that it could also be transmitted from one infected person to another through blood or mucous.
Scientists have cautioned against ticks and said that as long as people remained cautious, there was no need to panic.