An additional virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes

US officials have just recorded the first patient infected with Keystone virus, which is only transmitted from mosquitoes to animals.

According to IFL, the patient was a 16-year-old teenager in North Central Florida. Before being identified with the Keystone virus infection , he attended summer camp and was frequently bitten by mosquitoes at night.

In Clinical Infectious Diseases, a group of scientists from the University of Florida described patients with symptoms of mild fever, sore throat and non-itchy rash that spread from the chest to the abdomen, arms, back, and face. At first, the doctors assumed that teenagers were infected with Zika but tests showed that the Keystone virus was the culprit.

16-year-old patient's body rashes due to Keystone virus.(Photo: Clinical Infectious Disease).

Discovered in 1964, the Keystone virus belongs to the same species as the La Crosse virus, the Jamestown Canyon virus, the California encephalitis virus.The virus spreads through mosquito bites and primarily attacks animals in the area from the Chesapaeake Bay coast to west Texas. Symptoms of Keystone virus infection include rash, mild fever, encephalitis.

Mr. J. Glenn Morris, director of the University of Florida Institute of Pathogen Development, said that the literature has never recorded a case of Keystone infection in humans, but it is likely that many patients will be attacked by viruses without knowing it."Our data suggests that cases of rash and fever of unknown origin in the US east coast are actually caused by the Keystone virus," Morris said.

Currently, the health of 16-year-old patients has stabilized. He did not show symptoms of encephalitis and the whole body went down after two days without medication. However, experts worry that the Keystone virus may lead to more serious clinical symptoms such as high fever, muscle pain, digestive disorders and attack the nervous system like viruses of its kind. Ideally, to protect health, people should avoid mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves, spraying or applying insect repellent, shielding windows and doors.