Bourbon virus in Amblyomma ticks on Long Island
Tick testing provides layered knowledge for individuals, the broader public, and disease researchers
TickReport testing helps individuals estimate their risk of exposure to harmful pathogens by ticks, and every individual sample contributes to a larger public database that educates and protects the broader public. This nationwide tick surveillance stretching back to 2006 also identifies emerging or unknown risks in specific regions, and can help to improve the quality of surveillance data gathered by agencies across the U.S.. An infected tick submitted to the TickReport lab in 2019 revealed the presence of a tick-borne virus that was not previously isolated from ticks in New York, and highlighted possible genetic variances that were not previously detected by state and county assays.
TickReport finds Bourbon Virus in a human-biting tick from 2019
In July 2019, an adult female Amblyomma americanum (Lone start tick) sample was submitted by an individual from Lake Grove, NY. The photo below shows the exact specimen tested in our lab. In addition to carrying Ehrlichia ewingii bacteria that are commonly found in Amblyomma ticks, this tick tested positive for Bourbon virus. As with any rare pathogen reported through TickReport testing, this result was confirmed internally in our lab before the finding was reported to the New York State Department of Health.
This adult female Lone star tick was infected with Ehrlichia ewingii and Bourbon virus.
Follow-up by state and county researchers in New York
Researchers in New York followed up on this pathogen infection report by refocusing some of their active surveillance efforts on Long Island and throughout the state. Flagged ticks (gathered by researchers using cloth capture “flags” in woods and grasslands) had been tested for Bourbon virus since 2016, but the qPCR assay used in those tests had not revealed the presence of Bourbon virus up to that point.
Ticks collected in 2021 were tested using the assay developed by New York agencies as well as the novel assay developed by TickReport researchers. The tests developed in the TickReport lab detected five times as many Bourbon virus-infected pools of ticks compared to the molecular assay that had been used in New York state prior to that 2021 study. Research will continue, but this study demonstrates the need for broad testing of viruses in ticks biting on Long Island.
Read the published study
The active surveillance study in New York state can be found in Emerging Infectious Diseases at this link. The linked page shows an overview of the project, and full-text for the article can be accessed through the “Downloads” box.
Full citation:
Dupuis AP, Prusinski MA, O’Connor C, Maffei JG, Koetzner CA, Zembsch TE, et al. Bourbon Virus Transmission, New York, USA. Emerg Infect Dis. 2023;29(1):145-148. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2901.220283
Note: TickReport contributors include Dr. Guang Xu, Dr. Stephen M Rich, and Fumiko Ribbe. Initial testing of this infected tick and follow-up research was conducted by TickReport contributors while on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus.