In addition to malaria, dengue fever, zika; there is now a new disease that is spread by mosquitoes to humans.
A teenager in Florida, United States, has been the first victim of the Keystone virus.
The teenager was taken to the clinic's emergency room in August 2016 because of symptoms of fever and rash. The examining physician then tested the teenager for the zika virus but the results were negative.
Virus culture of adolescents are then studied by researchers from the University of Florida who later found the existence of the Keystone virus.
As told in the case report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the Keystone virus is not a new virus.
It was first discovered in Keystone, Tampa Bay in 1964. The virus was later found to infect various animals in coastal areas from Texas to Chesapeake Bay.
However, only this time the Keystone virus was found to infect humans.
Dr J Glenn Morris, director of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute and report author, said, although the virus has never been found in humans, the infection may be fairly common in northern Florida.
"This is one case that if you do not look for it, it will not get caught," he said.
Although in this case the teenager has mild symptoms, but research shows that Keystone can infect brain cells and cause infections such as brain inflammation.
Therefore, Morris and colleagues also encourage other researchers to conduct a more in-depth study of Keystone and other diseases spread by mosquitoes.
"All types of viruses propagated by mosquitoes we do not understand correctly the transmission numbers. Additional research on the spread of human disease transmitted by other living organisms will clarify the pathogens that are most worrying for human and animal health, "Morris said.
Reported by Mother Nature Network
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