A Japanese woman has died from a tick-borne virus after being bitten by a stray cat in what is possibly the world’s first animal-to-human transmission of the disease. Authorities have since confirmed that she developed SFTS, a disease transmitted by bites from a certain…
Tokyo (AFP) – A Japanese woman has died from a tick-borne virus after being bitten by a stray cat in what is possibly the world’s first animal-to-human transmission of the disease.
The woman in her 50s died some 10 days after being bitten by the cat last year after she took the animal to a veterinary hospital.
Authorities have since confirmed that she developed SFTS, a disease transmitted by bites from a certain group of virus-carrying ticks.
Human-to-human infections of the tick virus through blood contact have been reported, but ministry officials believe the Japanese woman’s death could be the first case of a human dying from the bite of an infected animal.
