A new tick-borne virus that can trigger deadly brain infections has been discovered in humans for the first time.
Officials believe the unidentified man, from China, got infected after he was bitten by ticks when visiting a park in Mongolia.
Dubbed wetland virus (WELV), tests have since shown it has now infected nearly two dozen people.
Spread by ticks and farm animals, the potentially fatal infection joins a long roster of diseases passed by tiny parasites, like Lyme disease and malaria.
Officials believe the unidentified man, from China, got infected after he was bitten by ticks when visiting a park in Mongolia
Getting rid of a tick from your own skin is crucial to avoid the risk of infection, or contracting other diseases including Lyme disease. The NHS has a four-step routine to help safely spot and remove ticks
It was first detected in the 61-year-old hospital patient while being treated in Jinzhou in 2019. But medics have only released the report this month.
His symptoms, which included a fever, headache, vomiting, poor appetite, and infected lymph nodes, developed five days after the visit and he was prescribed antibiotics.
It was only when they failed to subside that doctors realised the man was suffering a viral infection rather than a bacterial one.
Blood tests then identified a previously unknown orthonairovirus, a group of related viruses that includes several transmitted by ticks.
