Wetland Viruses and the Increasing Threat of Tick-borne Arboviruses

Arboviruses are responsible for many emerging and reemerging diseases that represent a significant public health threat globally, affecting millions of people annually and putting over half of the global population at risk. These viruses primarily depend on mosquito or tick vectors for transmission to vertebrate hosts. Ticks are one of the major vectors transmitting a wide range of arboviruses that are known to cause serious infectious diseases in both animals and humans. The geographic expansion and increasing prevalence of tick-borne viruses pose significant prevention and control challenges. Amid the global health challenges resulting from the Coronavirus disease pandemic and the recent resurgence of monkeypox, which has been designated a public health emergency of international concern, another febrile illness has been reported in northeastern China that has drawn attention. Recently, a new tick-borne virus, the Wetland virus associated with human febrile illness and closely related to the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, has been identified in a patient admitted to a hospital in Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China, after a tick bite. The affected individuals showed variable degrees of clinical symptoms. It is essential to remain vigilant about this new viral outbreak. As it is a new virus, there are no reports available demonstrating effective vaccines or drugs for the treatment of the Wetland virus. In this review, an outline of the Wetland virus and insights into the tick-borne arboviral infections are provided. Further, the need for the development of effective treatments, surveillance measures, and prevention strategies to mitigate future outbreaks is also highlighted.

کلیدواژه ها:

viral diseases ، arbovirus ، Tick-borne viruses ، Transmission