Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 02:27 PM IST
Woman dies of rare tick-borne virus
Only 13 people in the world have been affected by the deadly Bourbon virus.
Tamela Wilson, from the US, died for a rare tick-borne virus that has only affected 13 people in the world, the Daily Mail reported.
The 58-year-old discovered two ticks on her body while she was at work. She immediately removed them and went about her day.
Not long after, the mother-of-one became violently ill with high fever and feelings of nausea and fatigue.
Doctors at the time treated her with antibiotics as they mistook her condition for a urinary tract infection, the report revealed.
Weeks later, her condition worsened and she had to be hospitalized. Blood tests showed Wilson had an untreatable condition called Bourbon virus, which first gained attention in 2014.
Wilson's doctors struggled to fight the disease as she developed pneumonia and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which makes immune cells mutate. Her battle came to an end on June 23.
In the United States (US) only five people have been known to have the deadly virus. 68-year-old John Seested, who was the country's first case, died just two weeks after being bitten by a tick. Currently there is no treatment or vaccine.
