New insights into tick immune response could help prevent deadly virus transmission

What affects the transmission of tick-borne pathogens?

From saliva to hunting strategies, ticks use a range of tactics that affect how quickly they can spread disease.

New insights into tick immune response could help prevent deadly virus transmission

Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a severe haemorrhagic fever virus transmitted by tick to animal and humans. Discovered in 2009, the virus is found in South-East Asian countries and has a fatality rate of up to 40%.

Scientists in Surrey may have found a way to help stop a deadly virus carried by ticks from spreading to humans.

SFTSV was first reported between late March and mid-July 2009 in rural areas of Hubei and Henan provinces in Central China. University of Surrey researchers have found two natural proteins in ticks that seem to block the virus from making copies of itself. They say the discovery, published in Nature Communications, could lead to new ways to prevent the virus from spreading in the future.