Ticks are already responsible for spreading some of the most debilitating and dangerous diseases known to medicine—Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis, to name a few.
But in 2014, scientists identified something entirely new and far deadlier: Bourbon virus.
The discovery was made after a seemingly healthy 50-year-old man from Bourbon County, Kansas, died suddenly 11 days after being bitten by multiple ticks.
His symptoms started mildly—fever, fatigue, and nausea—but quickly escalated.
His white blood cell count plummeted, his kidneys and lungs failed, and eventually, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Doctors were baffled.
Standard tests for known tick-borne illnesses all came back negative.
But when researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed his blood, they found something never seen before—a virus from the Thogotovirus genus, a category that includes rare, mosquito- and tick-borne viruses that primarily affect animals.
For the first time in recorded history, a Thogotovirus had caused a human fatality in the United States.
A Virus Unlike Any Other in Its Family
What makes Bourbon virus especially terrifying is how it behaves.
Most viruses in the Thogotovirus genus typically cause neurological infections like meningitis or encephalitis.
But Bourbon virus operates differently—it doesn’t attack the brain. Instead, it wipes out the body’s white blood cells, making it impossible for the immune system to fight off infection.
A report published in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases confirmed that Bourbon virus behaves completely unlike its viral relatives:
“Of the seven symptomatic human infections that have been associated with viruses in the genus Thogotovirus, most case-patients have had neurologic findings (e.g., meningitis, encephalitis) without any described abnormalities in blood counts… This patient did not have any respiratory symptoms that would be expected with other viruses that are known human pathogens in the large family of Orthomyxoviridae, such as influenza virus.”
This was an alarming discovery.
It suggested that Bourbon virus may represent an entirely new class of tick-borne disease, one that scientists had never before encountered.
What If Bourbon Virus Has Been Around for Years?
Here’s where things take a disturbing turn: what if Bourbon virus isn’t new at all?
What if it’s been infecting—and possibly killing—people for years, but we simply haven’t recognized it?
Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, suspects this is exactly the case:
“I think we have to assume this has been around for some time, and we haven’t been able to diagnose it,” Hawkinson told The New York Times. “We suspect there have been milder cases and people have recovered from them, but we don’t have a lot of information.”
This raises serious questions:
- How many people have been infected without knowing it?
- Are some deaths mistakenly attributed to other illnesses?
- Could Bourbon virus be silently spreading across the U.S.?
Without widespread testing, we have no idea how many people have actually had Bourbon virus.
How Widespread Is Bourbon Virus?
So far, confirmed cases of Bourbon virus have been incredibly rare, but that may not tell the full story.
Cases have been identified in:
- Kansas (the first confirmed case)
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
Experts believe that many more infections have likely occurred but have gone undiagnosed.
This is because the symptoms—fever, fatigue, headaches, and nausea—are easily mistaken for other tick-borne illnesses, like ehrlichiosis or anaplasmosis.
Amesh Adalja, a senior associate at the Center for Health Security at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, emphasized the importance of investigating unexplained illnesses:
“It will be important to determine how widespread the Bourbon virus is in both ticks, insects, animals, and humans and to grasp the spectrum of illness it is capable of causing. The fact that a novel virus was discovered underscores the need for perpetual vigilance in all locales with respect to emerging infectious diseases.”
The discovery of Bourbon virus is a wake-up call: tick-borne illnesses are evolving, and new threats can emerge without warning.
No Cure, No Vaccine, No Test
Perhaps the most alarming fact about Bourbon virus is this: there is no cure, no vaccine, and no reliable test to detect it.
Unlike Lyme disease, which can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, there is no treatment for Bourbon virus.
If you contract it, doctors can only manage the symptoms and hope your immune system fights it off.
And because there’s no standardized test, doctors must rely on genetic sequencing—a highly specialized process that isn’t available in most hospitals—to confirm a diagnosis.
This means that even if you have Bourbon virus, it’s unlikely that doctors will ever know.
How to Protect Yourself
With no treatment available, prevention is your only defense.
If you live in an area where ticks are common, take extra precautions when spending time outdoors:
- Use insect repellents containing DEET or permethrin.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when walking in wooded areas.
- Avoid tall grass and leaf litter, where ticks thrive.
- Shower immediately after spending time outdoors.
- Check your body for ticks—especially behind the knees, around the waist, and in your hair.
Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed, so even if you don’t see one, you may still have been bitten.
A Growing Public Health Concern
The emergence of Bourbon virus is a stark reminder that new infectious diseases can appear at any time.
With climate change expanding tick populations and human activity pushing into new environments, the risk of unknown viral threats is higher than ever.
While only a few cases have been identified so far, experts strongly suspect that many more infections have gone undetected.
Bourbon virus isn’t just a Kansas problem—it could be a growing public health crisis that we’re only beginning to understand.
For now, the best way to protect yourself is to stay informed, take precautions, and be vigilant about tick prevention.
Because the next case of Bourbon virus could be closer than you think.
