TOKYO – A virus previously not known to be capable of infecting humans have been discovered by scientists at Japan. Named the Yezo virus, it is related to the pathogens that cause Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and Nairobi sheep disease.
The first case involving this new virus was recorded in Japan in 2019. At that time, a 41-year-old man was hospitalized with fever and leg pain after suffering from a tick bite while walking in the forest in Hokkaido.
The man, who made it out of hospital after two weeks of treatment, tested negative for all known tick-borne viruses at the time. Researchers from Hokkaido University, including Dr. Keita Matsuno, a virologist at the university’s International Institute for Zoonose Control, then analyzed the patient’s blood samples and found the new virus.
The team presented their research results in the journal ‘Nature Communications’ at the end of September. The new virus turned out to be part of a family of 15 species called ‘nairovirus’, four of which can cause disease in humans.
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One nairovirus is known to cause Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, which manifests as muscle pain, diarrhea, and bleeding into the skin, which can potentially lead to liver failure and death. The new virus appears to be most closely related to the Sulina virus and the Tamdy virus, found in Romania and Uzbekistan, respectively. The Taddy virus has reportedly caused acute fever in China in recent years, according to research published in 2020.
The new Yezo virus can cause high temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius, as well as reduce the number of blood platelets and white blood cells, or leukocytes, which protect the human body from infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses.
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