Officials with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) report (computer translated) the first case of the tickborne infection, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in a 55-year-old female from Chungcheongnam-do (Chungnam) province in the west of the country.
This has prompted health officials to advise the public to take precautions when doing outdoor activities to avoid tick bites.
The patient was gardening prior to the appearance of symptoms. On April 28th, she presented with symptoms of fever and erythema and was hospitalized at the medical institution. SFTS testing returned positive.
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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a newly emerging infectious disease. Symptoms and laboratory abnormalities are fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and elevated serum enzyme levels. Multiorgan failure occurs in severe cases, and 6%–30% of case-patients die. The syndrome is caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV) (genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae).
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Ixodid tick species are implicated as vectors of SFTSV.
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