Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – A new virus was discovered in Japan. In recent times this virus has infected several Japanese citizens. This virus is named Yezo virus after the prefecture name that has been identified by researchers from Yezo University.
This virus is transmitted through tick bites and causes a number of symptoms. These include fever, decreased red blood cell and white blood platelets. Keita Matsuno, a virologist at the International Institute for Zoonose Control, said at least seven people had been infected.
“At least seven people have been infected with this new virus in Japan,” he said in a press statement, quoted by Newsweek, Saturday (9/10/2021).
The virus was first identified from a 41-year-old man who had symptoms of fever and leg pain after being bitten by a tick while he was walking in the Hokkaido Forest.
The man is known to have been treated since 2019. After two weeks of treatment he was finally allowed to go home. However, the same symptoms were found in the new patient a year later. He also experienced pain after being bitten by the same animal.
Researchers say they have found traces of the Yezo virus in five patients since 2014. But the disease that emerged seven years ago has an additional sign of abnormal liver function.
According to the findings, this virus comes from tick bites. To find the origin of the virus, the research team screened wild animal samples between 2010 and 2020. Viral RNA was found in three species of ticks in Hokkaido.
Matsuno explained that Yezo appeared to be transmitted by ticks and that the disease had spread in Hokkaido. The cases found so far have not caused death, he said.
“All cases of Yezo virus infection that we know of so far have not resulted in death, but it is most likely that the disease was found outside Hokkaido, so we need to quickly investigate its spread,” he explained.
Research related to Yezo was carried out by a team of researchers at Hokkaido University and published in the journal Nature Communications. Meanwhile, Yezo’s relationship with other viruses was found from outside Japan.
Launching the Technology Times, it has something to do with the Sulina and Tamdy viruses found in Romania and Uzbekistan. Even recently, a virus that causes cases of acute febrile illness was discovered in China.
This Yezo virus appeared simultaneously with SARS-Cov-2 which caused a pandemic in the world for almost two years. However, it is not yet known whether Yezo is more virulent than Covid-19.
Until now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not issued information and statements regarding the Yezo virus.
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