A farmer in Kansas’ death had the medical world stumped.
The man was as healthy as a horse, as they say.
He was not feeling well, checked into a hospital with a sudden onset of symptoms, and 10 days later, he was dead.
Doctors have finally figured out what killed him.
The Bourbon Virus
The former lived in Bourbon, Kansas, and the virus that killed him will forever be known as the Bourbon virus.
Believe it or not, this came from a tick bite.
It took the CDC months to isolate and diagnose the virus that killed him.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist who treated the patient at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, stated, “I think we have to assume this has been around for some time, and we haven’t been able to diagnose it.
“We suspect there have been milder cases and people have recovered from them, but we don’t have a lot of information.”
The blood had been sent to the CDC for testing, but “typical” viruses that might be present all tested negative.
Dr. J. Erin Staples, a medical epidemiologist at the C.D.C. laboratory in Fort Collins, CO, stated, “We will be working with state and local health departments come springtime to do extensive field investigations.”
Currently, there is no treatment for the virus.
Source: New York Times
