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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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A newly identified tick-borne virus is circulating in China, and doctors say it could already be spreading elsewhere—raising fresh concerns for Americans living in areas where its tick carrier has taken hold.
"This discovery is a wake-up call," Dr. Tyler Evans, an infectious disease physician, public health expert and CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, told Newsweek. "Doctors had thousands of patients showing classic tick-borne symptoms—but testing negative for every virus we knew about.
"Finding [this virus] finally explains what was making these people sick."
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Scientists in China have identified the virus, which causes an influenza-like illness marked by fever, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms and abnormal lab results.
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Researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity in Beijing have named it the Asian longhorned tick nairovirus, or ALTNV. Their findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, grew out of an effort to explain why roughly 30 percent of patients with symptoms of Dabie bandavirus (DBV)—a tick-borne illness with a fatality rate of 10 to 30 percent—were testing negative for it.
Researchers tested samples from patients bitten by ticks at hospitals in regions of China where tick-borne viruses are common, using RNA sequencing and viral isolation to confirm the new pathogen. Of 3,163 patients tested, 10.4 percent were positive for ALTNV. Among those who tested negative for DBV, that figure rose to 15.1 percent.
"This isn't just a mild bug," Evans, who wrote Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics and has been involved in global health responses to the Ebola and COVID-19 crises, said. "It can cause severe fatigue, stomach problems, and a dangerous drop in platelet counts.
"Most people recover fine on their own, but the real danger is when it hits at the same time as another tick-borne virus."
Symptoms To Look Out For
Patients infected with ALTNV alone most commonly reported fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, thrombocytopenia, or low platelet count, and elevated liver enzymes signaling tissue inflammation or damage. These patients recovered fully.
The picture changes for patients coinfected with both ALTNV and DBV.
Compared with DBV infection alone, coinfected patients had higher rates of respiratory symptoms, 61 percent versus 38 percent, and kidney impairment too. Of the 38 coinfected patients identified, seven died—an 18.4 percent fatality rate.
"What really worries doctors is when someone gets infected with both viruses at once. That's when we see the serious stuff; kidney failure, breathing problems," Evans said. "The death rate in those co-infection cases climbs, which is alarming."
The study authors shared in a statement that the overlap between ALTNV and DBV, both of which share a tick vector, "underscores the need for improved differential diagnosis between infections with these viruses in regions where SFTS (Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome) is endemic."
How To Stay Safe
ALTNV was found in 1.3 percent of nearly 47,500 ticks sampled across 15 Chinese provinces, most often in Haemaphysalis longicornis, also known as the Asian longhorned tick. Lab tests confirmed this species can transmit the virus to mice.
This tick species is notable for its ability to reproduce asexually.
"A single female doesn't even need to mate—she can clone herself and lay thousands of eggs on her own. That's how populations explode so fast," Evans said.
The Asian longhorned tick has already spread across parts of the U.S., though ALTNV has not yet been detected in American ticks.
"Americans shouldn't tune this out," Evans said. "We haven't found this virus in American ticks yet, but the tick that carries it has already made itself at home in our backyards."
Health officials recommend standard tick precautions: using repellent, wearing long clothing in wooded or grassy areas, checking for ticks after outdoor activity, and removing any attached tick promptly.
"If you start to develop a fever, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, or other signs of illness following a known tick bite or being outdoors, make sure to tell your healthcare provider," Dr. Ayesha Bryant, clinical advisor of Alpas Wellness in Maryland, told Newsweek. "Knowing about possible tick exposures or bites can help clinicians narrow their diagnostic testing and get you proper care as soon as possible."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Kara Dolman and Tony Phillips.
Reference
Zhang, X., et al. (2026). A Zoonotic Orthonairovirus from Febrile Patients in China. The New England Journal of Medicine. 10.1056/NEJMc2602496.
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