Tick virus that killed a former senator may be on the rise. Just look at this PA park
A staggering number of ticks at a municipal park in Pennsylvania were found to be carrying a variant of the same rare and potentially fatal virus that killed a former U.S. senator, according to state health officials.
About 92% of adult tick samples collected during routine testing at Lawrence Township Recreational Park in central Pennsylvania came back positive for the Deer Tick Virus, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said in a Jan. 20 report.
The highest rate of Deer Tick Virus infection previously recorded at a single location in the U.S. was 25%, officials said.
The Deer Tick Virus — also known as DTV — is a variant of the Powassan virus, which contributed to the death of former North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan in 2019. The Powassan virus is transmitted to humans through tick bites from female black-legged ticks, LiveScience reported, and the turnaround time for transmission is relatively short at 15 minutes.
Lyme disease, by comparison, can take more than 24 hours to be transmitted once a tick attaches to its host, the Pennsylvania DEP said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Powassan virus disease was once considered a fairly rare occurrence in humans. But data show there has been an increase in cases in recent years.
Routine testing generates ‘concerning’ numbers
State environmental officials in Pennsylvania issued a warning to residents in January after they received the alarming results from Lawrence Township Recreational Park in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell called the infection rate “extremely high.”
“This finding is concerning, and we strongly urge the public to exercise caution and take preventive measures to reduce risk of tick bites and potential infection while DEP continues to address the situation,” McDonnell said in a statement.
The Department of Environmental Protection said it has an active tick surveillance program that started in 2018 and involves tracking the “habitats, life stages and peak activity levels” of ticks in every county of the state.
The ticks that were collected from Lawrence Township Recreational Park were part of that routine testing, officials said.
At least 25 ticks were collected from the park, which includes a baseball diamond, football field, basketball court and playground. Officials said 23 of those ticks — or 92% — tested positive for DTV. Prior to the testing in Clearfield, the highest infection rate found in a single location in Pennsylvania was 11%, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. And in 2021, the statewide average was 0.6%.
What is the Powassan virus?
According to the CDC, most cases of the Powassan virus occur in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions.
Unlike some other viruses, it can’t be spread through coughing, sneezing or touching, the CDC said. The Powassan virus has, however, been spread in some rare cases by blood transfusions.
Once infected, a person can develop a brain infection — also known as encephalitis — or an infection of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord — also known as meningitis, according to the CDC. People infected reported feeling sick anywhere from one week to one month after being bitten, but many don’t have symptoms at all.
Symptoms of the Powassan virus include fevers, headaches, vomiting and weakness. In severe cases, it might manifest as confusion, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking or seizures.
One in 10 people diagnosed with a severe disease such as encephalitis after contracting the virus will die, according to the CDC. Half of those who survive cope with long-term health problems.
There is no medicine to treat the Powassan virus, the CDC said.
Hagan, the North Carolina senator, was hospitalized in December 2016 with encephalitis.
She spent the better part of three years coping with the fallout, McClatchy News previously reported. In one of her last public appearances on June 5, 2019, Hagan’s husband Chip Hagan said her speech and muscle movement were still limited.
Hagan died in her sleep on Oct. 28, 2019. She was 66.
A rise in tickborne illnesses
A report released in October 2021 by the CDC showed an increase in Lyme disease and other tickborne illnesses across the U.S. in recent years.
There was a record 59,349 cases linked to tickborne diseases in 2017 — up from 48,610 in 2016, the CDC said. Officials cautioned the recorded cases “capture only a fraction of the overall number of people with tickborne illnesses.”
Data specific to the Powassan virus follows a similar trajectory. Between 2011 and 2015, the CDC recorded just 44 cases in the U.S. That figure jumped to 134 between 2016 and 2020 with a record 39 cases in 2019.
The CDC said there could be several factors contributing to the increase in tickborne diseases, including an expansion of the geographic range of ticks. According to the CDC, that’s due in part to changes in land use patterns, such as reforestation and suburban development, as well as climate change.
The black-legged tick, in particular, has seen considerable movement.
Alvaro Toledo, an assistant professor of entomology at Rutgers University, told Medpage Today the black-legged tick has “moved north and west quite significantly in the past 20 years,” partly because the populations of its primary host — deer and mice — have similarly increased.
Warmer temperatures and shorter winters have also given ticks more time to find hosts, Medpage Today reported, citing Jean Tsao, an associate professor in the department of fisheries and wildlife at Michigan State University.
“Once you get enough ticks surviving, then you can get the pathogen cycle to be turning over as well,” she told the media outlet.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Tick virus that killed a former senator may be on the rise. Just look at this PA park."
