Study Confirms 2 Bourbon Virus Infections on Long Island, Marking New York's First Known Cases
Updated
Updated · Newsweek · Jul 25
Study Confirms 2 Bourbon Virus Infections on Long Island, Marking New York's First Known Cases
3 articles · Updated · Newsweek · Jul 25
Summary
Two of 107 Suffolk County patients screened after tick bites showed Bourbon virus antibodies, giving New York its first confirmed infections; one patient was hospitalized after Lyme treatment failed.
An eightfold rise in antibody titers confirmed one case, while early symptoms—fatigue, severe headache and fever—closely resembled Lyme disease, helping explain the initial misdiagnosis.
The study also found one Heartland virus infection and no Powassan cases, with researchers saying the results support broader testing because Bourbon virus has no commercial diagnostic test, vaccine or cure.
Bourbon virus, first identified in Kansas in 2014 and spread by lone star ticks, may be moving beyond its usual central U.S. range as warming conditions expand tick habitats northward.