Fatal case of deer tick virus encephalitis.
Deer tick virus is related to Powassan virus, a tickborne encephalitis virus. A 62-year-old man presented with a meningoencephalitis syndrome and eventually died. Analyses of tissue samples obtained during surgery and at autopsy revealed a widespread necrotizing meningoencephalitis. Nucleic acid was extracted from formalin-fixed tissue, and the presence of deer tick virus was verified on a flavivirus-specific polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) assay, followed by sequence confirmation. Immunohistochemical analysis with antisera specific for deer tick virus identified numerous immunoreactive neurons, with prominent involvement of large neurons in the brain stem, cerebellum, basal ganglia, thalamus, and spinal cord. This case demonstrates that deer tick virus can be a cause of fatal encephalitis.
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health and the Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA. norma.tavakoli@wadsworth.org
Norma P
NP
Tavakoli
Heng
H
Wang
Michelle
M
Dupuis
Rene
R
Hull
Gregory D
GD
Ebel
Emily J
EJ
Gilmore
Phyllis L
PL
Faust
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018884:Ixodes / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D000914:Antibodies, Viral