Publication date: November 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 6 Author(s): Santiago Sanchez-Vicente, Vishal Kapoor, Joseph Park, Elizabeth Horn, Luis A. Marcos, W. Ian Lipkin, Rafal Tokarz

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne infection disease in which secondary infections may worsen clinical outcomes, particularly in severe cases. This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 1975 laboratory-confirmed SFTS patients from three hospitals in Anhui, China (2011–2025), evaluating whether early minocycline use was associated with lower odds of secondary infections and differences in inflammatory cytokine levels. Propensity score matching was used to balance measured baseline characteristics between the minocycline and control groups. Logistic regression and exploratory subgroup analyses were performed. Among 1975 patients with confirmed SFTS, 548 received minocycline and 1427 did not. The incidence of secondary infection was lower in the minocycline group than in the control group (44.22% vs. 52.99%). Site-specific analysis showed that pulmonary infections were less frequent in the minocycline group (41.83% vs. 49.82%), whereas differences in bloodstream and urinary tract infections were not statistically significant. Multivariate logistic regression showed that early minocycline use was associated with lower odds of secondary infection (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.47–0.82). In an exploratory cytokine analysis, serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) and IL-10 levels were lower in the minocycline group after matching. Early minocycline use was associated with lower odds of secondary infections, particularly pulmonary infections, in patients with SFTS.

Publication date: November 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 6 Author(s): Marcus Johansson, Therese Sandberg, Frederick J. Angulo, Alexandra Loew-Baselli, Andreas Palmborg, Andreas Pilz, Per-Eric Lindgren, Ivar Tjernberg, Anna J Henningsson

Scientists have discovered a new tick-borne virus in China that causes flu-like illness and may account for previously unexplained cases of fever, fatigue, digestive problems, and low platelet counts....

Finland has recorded more than 390 cases of tick-borne encephalitis so far this year, a record, Yle reports. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s communicable disease register recorded fewer than 240 cases last year and 61 a decade ago. South Karelia has also reported a record number of…

Washington, Thursday, 1 October 2026.Presidential approval of the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act extends critical federal research funding through 2030, empowering public health infrastructure to

Scientists have discovered a new tick-borne virus in China that causes flu-like illness and may account for previously unexplained cases of fever, fatigue, digestive problems, and low platelet counts....

These stories dig into how climate change is making tick- and mosquito-borne diseases more common.

Tick-borne diseases are on the rise in the United States. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported, with nearly half a million people diagnosed each year. Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, it is most often spread by bites from blacklegged ticks. Lyme can be treated with antibiotics, but if untreated, infection can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system, and some people can experience persistent symptoms.

A growing number of emerging and re-emerging tick-borne orthonairoviruses belonging to the Sulina and Tamdy genogroups have recently been identified in association with febrile diseases in East Asia. Yezo virus (YEZV) is one such viruses and is genetically distinct from well-characterized Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. Orthonairovirus glycoproteins (Gn and Gc) expressed from a single glycoprotein precursor (GPC) gene mediate interaction with host cells, yet the organization and functions of the YEZV glycoproteins remain largely undefined. To characterize YEZV glycoproteins in the context of infection, we developed a reverse genetics system that enables recovery of recombinant YEZV entirely from cloned cDNAs. The recombinant wild-type virus exhibited growth properties comparable to those of the parental isolate in vitro and maintained pathogenicity in vivo. Proteomic analysis of purified virus particles produced in mammalian cells showed that peptide coverage of GPC-derived products began at residue 69. We therefore used the reverse genetics system to examine the functional importance of the GPC subregion upstream of residue 69. A mutant with a deletion of GPC residues 28 to 68 (rYEZV GPC{Delta}28-68), which retained the predicted signal peptide, was successfully recovered, suggesting that this subregion is dispensable for producing infectious virus. rYEZV GPC{Delta}28-68 propagated at levels comparable to those of the wild-type virus in mammalian cells and exhibited similar pathogenicity in a mouse model. Interestingly, the mutant reached lower viral titers in tick-derived ISE6 cells and in ticks in vivo, suggesting that this N-terminal subregion may contribute to virus replication in ticks. Together, these findings demonstrate the utility of the newly established reverse genetics system for dissecting the functions of the YEZV glycoproteins in mammalian and tick systems.

by Chanakan Suwanbongkot, Ingeborg M. Langohr, Killian Z. Brewer, Robert A. Barrington, Kevin R. Macaluso Rickettsia parkeri, an emerging tick-borne pathogen, is transmitted by Amblyomma maculatum. Initial bacterial inoculation occurs in the skin via infected tick bite. During blood acquisition, tick salivary factors manipulate host hemostatic and immune responses. Examination of rickettsial pathogenesis and the host response to infection in murine models primarily utilize needle inoculation. As a result, biological variables including transmission dynamics and the influence of vector saliva on the host response at the infection site are undefined. To test the hypothesis that a distinct host cutaneous immune response will be elicited based on the infection status of the tick, a single tick feeding model was developed to assess the transmission and dissemination kinetics of R. parkeri from the early stage of tick attachment (1 hour) to late feeding stage (144 hours). Furthermore, changes in the cutaneous immune response were characterized through immunophenotyping, cytokine and chemokine profiling, and histopathological analysis. The data show that transmission of R. parkeri from the infected tick to the host occurs within 1 hour-post tick attachment (hpa), with rapid dissemination to lymph nodes and internal tissues. The quantifiable bacterial load in the mouse skin delivered by an infected tick was 9,500 bacteria at 3 hours, increasing to 15,000 and 22,000 rickettsiae at 48 and 144 hours, respectively. Independent of tick infection status, the degree of time-dependent inflammation was similar at 3 and 48 hpa. However, in R. parkeri-infected skin at 144 hpa, macrophages were the dominant cell type, with enhanced levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α while IL-10 production was reduced. The data suggest delayed pro-inflammatory activation in response to rickettsial infection when delivered by ticks. This study yields valuable insights into the early events of Rickettsia transmission and the host response, providing the basis for the development of preventive strategies against tick-borne rickettsial disease.

Pennsylvania announced a fifth measles-associated death today in Lancaster County. Officials from the Department of Health (DOH) said the person was an unvaccinated resident of the county, which has become the nation’s measles hot spot. This is the third death recorded in Lancaster County. Both Jefferson and Mifflin counties have confirmed a single measles-related fatality. The DOH has not released any other information about the person for privacy reasons. To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed just two US measles deaths. Presumably they involve people in Pennsylvania, but the CDC has provided no details about the fatalities. In the past two days, the state has seen 40 new measles cases, raising the total to 943. Of those, 176 patients have been hospitalized, or about 19%. This is twice the national average of 9%, according to CDC data. Only four Pennsylvania cases have been recorded in vaccinated people. Surge in MMR vaccinations The recent outbreak is leading to a sharp uptick in measles mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations across the state. Throughout September, the DOH said more than 53,000 MMR doses were administered statewide, more than doubling the amount in a typical month (25,000). In August...

Here at 45 degrees north, tick season is practically year round. Any time the ground isn't frozen, ticks may be present and looking for a host to feed on. One found me in May. This is not unusual. Nor is it unusual to be faced with conflicting choices about what to do when that happens. But this time, I learned some things that may change my approach to tick bites in the future – just in time for the surge in tick activity we expect every autumn.

Publication date: November 2026 Source: #ticks and #tick-borne Diseases, Volume 17, Issue 6 Author(s): Santiago Sanchez-Vicente, Vishal Kapoor, Joseph Park, Elizabeth Horn, Luis A. Marcos, W. Ian Lipkin, Rafal Tokarz

Flea and tick prevention for dogs and cats (USA 2026) — why year-round protection matters even indoors, oral vs topical vs collar products, tick-borne diseases like Lyme, the critical cat safety warning about dog products, US cost ranges, and how to track it with PetCare AI.

Bats are natural reservoir hosts for numerous zoonotic viruses, yet the molecular mechanisms enabling viral persistence without overt disease remain incompletely understood. The Egyptian rousette bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus, ERB) is the sole known natural reservoir of Marburg virus (MARV) and a key host in the enzootic cycle of the tick-borne Kasokero virus (KASV), providing a unique system to compare host responses to different RNA viruses within the same species. Here, we applied serial cross-sectional serum proteomics integrated with tissue-specific viral kinetics to characterize systemic host responses to experimental MARV and KASV infection in captive-reared bats. Nearly 16 % of detected proteins (67/419) were found exclusively in infected animals, yet canonical acute inflammatory signatures driving pathology in other susceptible hosts were absent (e.g., in humans and non-human primates). Differential abundance and detection analyses identified both shared and virus-dependent responses, with MARV infection eliciting limited and transient perturbations, while KASV induced broader and more sustained engagement of complement, lectin pathway, and hepatometabolic proteins. Network-based analysis uncovered coordinated proteasome modules, including circulating immunoproteasome complexes, consistent with enhanced antigen-processing capacity is a feature of these virus-host dynamics. Together, these findings reveal how ERBs mount structured, virus-dependent systemic responses, offering new insight into mechanisms underlying viral infection in natural reservoir hosts.

Reauthorizing federal tick-borne disease programs through 2030 keeps state labs and clinicians funded and trained; with roughly 476,000 Lyme diagnoses...

Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act: reauthorizes CDC vector-borne disease activities through FY2030, including a national strategy and grants for regional centers.