Przejdź do treściGeneral Medical Discoveries · Human observations plus laboratory and animal studies
Researchers have described a newly identified tick-borne virus, Asian longhorned tick nairovirus (ALTNV), in people with fever after tick exposure in China. Among 3,163 such patients, ALTNV RNA or IgM antibodies were detected in 10.4%; 56 patients had ALTNV infection without concurrent Dabie bandavirus infection, and all of them recovered without sequelae. The virus was isolated from patient samples, detected in Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks, and experimental work showed that these ticks could transmit it to mice. Among 38 people coinfected with ALTNV and Dabie bandavirus, respiratory symptoms and renal impairment were more frequent and 7 patients died, but an orthopaedic surgeon or any other clinician interpreting these findings should note that this observational comparison cannot establish that ALTNV itself caused the greater severity. This is not a new treatment or a ready-to-use screening test; the main significance is recognition of another potential tick-borne human pathogen that now requires further epidemiological surveillance.
Source: Zhang X-A, Liu B, Wu S-Q, et al. A Zoonotic Orthonairovirus from Febrile Patients in China. New England Journal of Medicine. Published online 2 September 2026;395:929–931. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2602496. Checked 16 September 2026; access: full article, supplementary material and PubMed record. No correction or retraction was found in the records checked.
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Content prepared by: Tomasz Poboży - orthopaedic surgeon.