Two tick-borne viruses – Heartland virus and Bourbon virus – have killed at least seven people in the US so far and appear to be spreading. Nebraska has just become the ninth state to detect one or both viruses in local ticks. New York also recently reported its first case of Bourbon virus in a person.
Are we going to see more and more cases of human infections? These are questions that a lot of my colleagues and I are wondering about,” says Joseph Fauver at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Why Lyme disease and other tick-borne conditions are on the rise Heartland virus was first reported in 2012 and Bourbon virus in 2015 after they were discovered in people who had become severely unwell or died after being bitten by ticks.
Since then, they have been found to be transmitted by lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum), named for the white, vaguely star-shaped spot on the female’s back. Historically, lone star ticks were only found in south-eastern states of the US, but they have been pushing further north and west due to factors like climate change and reforestation of previously cleared areas. Heartland virus or Bourbon virus, or both, have been found in lone star ticks in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
These ticks also recently became established in Nebraska, leading Fauver and his colleagues to investigate whether they have brought the viruses with them. The team analysed more than 7000 lone star ticks collected by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services from multiple locations across the state between 2022 and 2026. Both viruses were detected in ticks from Sarpy County, and Heartland virus was found in ticks from Richardson County.
These are in the south-east of Nebraska, suggesting lone star ticks migrated from neighbouring Missouri and Kansas. At this point, no one in Nebraska is known to have contracted these emerging viruses from tick bites. However, there is a “very real possibility” that human infections have occurred and gone undiagnosed, says Fauver.
This is because the symptoms can be mistaken for those of other tick-borne illnesses or non-tick-related viruses, he says. Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, loss of appetite, muscle or joint aches and nausea. Research suggests that only a small proportion of people who become infected with Heartland virus or Bourbon virus become severely unwell.
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