Tick-borne disease claims 31 lives

By Jung Min-ho

A tick-borne disease has killed 31 people this year so far, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Thursday.

The KDCD noted the number of deaths from severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) has increased sharply from last year’s 19.

Given that ticks remain active until November, more people may fall victim to the virus.

The number of people who have tested positive for the virus was 139 as of Aug. 31. It is also expected to surpass last year’s total (165).

Notably, the number of patients increased to 18 and 17 from nine and eight in South Chungcheong Province and Jeju Island, respectively.

SFTS has a fatality rate as high as 30 percent. The disease is most commonly found in Central Asia and China and is known to be transmitted through bites from virus-carrying ticks.

After an incubation period of six days to two weeks, SFTS starts to cause symptoms such as fever, drowsiness, vomiting, diarrhea and organ failure.

There is currently no effective medicine to treat the disease and the best policy against it is to avoid being bitten by ticks.

In a statement, the KDCD advised people to wear long-sleeved shirts for extended outdoor activities and take a shower afterward.

The KDCD has also urged the public to be cautious about Scrub typhus, an infectious disease caused by bacteria known as Orientia tsutsugamushi.

After an incubation period of one to three weeks, the disease starts to cause symptoms such as fever, headache, cough and muscle pain.

According to the KDCD, 90 percent of all cases occur between the beginning of September and the end of November. The number of patients last year was 11,105. As of Aug. 31, 922 people have been infected with it.