Ticks carrying a rare and potentially deadly virus have been spreading around the country and have now been discovered in at least six states. Georgia is the latest state to find lone star ticks with the Heartland virus, joining Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and New York.
Cases of the viral infection have also been reported in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It is unknown how or where those people became infected.
The Heartland virus was first discovered in Missouri in 2009 after two men were hospitalized with a high fever, diarrhea, and muscle pain. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 50 cases of the mysterious virus.
While many of the reported cases resulted in severe illness, most patients made a full recovery. However, the CDC noted that several elderly individuals with pre-existing conditions died after contracting the virus.
Officials said that while not much is known about the Heartland virus, the number of cases could be much higher than reported. A blood bank study conducted by the CDC in 2019 found that one percent of the samples had antibodies to the virus.
"This indicates that the actual burden and impact may be much greater than the reported cases," Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of environmental sciences at Emory, according to NBC News.
Vazquez-Prokopec said that doesn't mean people need to panic because it is likely that many of the unreported cases were mild and did not require hospitalization. Instead, he said that people need to be cautious when going outside and check themselves and their pets for ticks.
"We want to bring awareness rather than panic," he said. "People tend to go out more in the spring, and they might get exposed to ticks, which are increasing rapidly, particularly in the South, this time of year."