Serologic Evidence of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus and Related Viruses in Pakistan

Abstract

S evere fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tickborne disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV; genus Banyangvirus, family Phenuiviridae, order Bunyavirales). The disease is prevalent in East Asia countries. It was first detected in China in 2009 and later in Japan and South Korea (1) and is suspected to be widely spread across other parts of the world (2). The recent identification of SFTSV in Xinjiang, China (3), expanded our awareness of epidemic areas of SFTS and suggested the possibility of SFTSV spreading to bordering countries like Pakistan. However, the presence of SFTSV in Pakistan has been unclear. We investigated the seroprevalence of SFTSV in humans in Pakistan. The Study For this study, we randomly collected human serum samples (n = 1,657) from 4 provinces in Pakistan during 2016-2017 (Figure). All participants were farmers of livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes, and camels). We recorded and summarized testing results by sex, age, and geographic location (Table). The collection of human serum samples and subsequent tests were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committees of

IL-6 and IL-10 Levels, Rather Than Viral Load and Neutralizing Antibody Titers, Determine the Fate of Patients With Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Infection in South Korea

“…Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a new tick-borne viral disease with a high mortality rate, was first reported in China in 2009, South Korea in 2010, Japan in 2013, Vietnam in 2017, Myanmar in 2018, Taiwan in 2019, and Thailand and Pakistan in 2020 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”

Clinical Update of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome

“…Most patients fell ill between April and November. Recently, patients with SFTS have also been identified in Southeast Asia (e.g., Vietnam, Pakistan, and Taiwan) in addition to three representative East Asian countries (China, Korea, and Japan) [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. The study conducted by Tran et al in Vietnam was a retrospective analysis of serum samples from 80 patients with acute febrile illness; the previous presence of SFTSV in Vietnam cannot be ruled out.…”

Baseline mapping of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virology, epidemiology and vaccine research and development

“…Recently, confirmed cases of SFTSV were reported in Vietnam 54 . Serological surveys in Pakistan suggest that a low percentage of the population have neutralizing antibodies indicative of SFTSV infection and seroconversion 55 . Taiwan has also detected serological evidence of SFTSV as well as viral RNA in some of the surveyed ruminants 56 .…”