Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, an emerging tick-borne zoonosis.
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging haemorrhagic fever that was first described in rural areas of China. The causative agent, SFTS virus (SFTSV), is a novel phlebovirus in the Bunyaviridae family. Since the first report in 2010, SFTS has been found in 11 provinces of China, with about 2500 reported cases, and an average case-fatality rate of 7·3%. The disease was also reported in Japan and Korea in 2012; Heartland virus, another phlebovirus genetically closely related to SFTSV, was isolated from two patients in the USA. The disease has become a substantial risk to public health, not only in China, but also in other parts of the world. The virus could undergo rapid evolution by gene mutation, reassortment, and homologous recombination in tick vectors and vertebrate reservoir hosts. No specific treatment of SFTS is available, and avoiding tick bites is an important measure to prevent the infection and transmission of SFTSV. This Review provides information on the molecular characteristics and ecology of this emerging tick-borne virus and describes the epidemiology, clinical signs, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human infection with SFTSV.
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China; Military Veterinary Institute, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun, China.
Quan
Q
Liu
Military Veterinary Institute, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Jilin Province for Zoonosis Prevention and Control, Changchun, China.
Biao
B
He
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
Si-Yang
SY
Huang
College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Feng
F
Wei
State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China. Electronic address: xingquanzhu1@hotmail.com.
Xing-Quan
XQ
Zhu
D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors; D002044:Bunyaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D009026:Mortality; D016856:Phlebovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D013987:Ticks; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology