Kansas man dies from newly discovered 'Bourbon' virus - never before seen in America

© CDC

A Kansas man who fell sick after a tick bite and died 11 days later was killed by the newly discovered 'Bourbon' virus, which has never before been seen in America

A Kansas man who fell sick after a tick bite and died 11 days later was killed by a newly discovered virus that has never before been seen in America.

The man, who was previously healthy and in his 50s, became ill after receiving a tick bite while doing work on his property outdoors. Although he was treated with antibiotics, his organs eventually failed and he lost the ability to breathe on his own.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated the man's blood and found he had been infected by a previously unidentified virus that belonged to the thogotoviruses group, which had never before caused human illness in the U.S.

The CDC has named the virus 'Bourbon', after the man's county, according to .

Before the Kansas man, there had only been eight incidents in which a strain of the thogotovirus had caused symptoms in humans - and they all occurred in Europe, Asia or Africa.

This is the first time the CDC has seen a thogotovirus affect blood cells.

When he was initially tested, the Kansas man's symptoms were similar to a bacterial illness transmitted by ticks. His white blood cells and platelets, which respectively fight infections and help the blood clot, were in decline.

In contrast, thogotoviruses are known to cause meningitis.

According to CDC epidemiologist J. Erin Staples, the Bourbon virus could have been around for years and just gone unnoticed because symptoms in other people were too mild.

Or the virus may have recently evolved to become more deadly.

Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the Center for Health Security of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said health officials must now determine just how widespread the Bourbon virus is in ticks, animals and humans so that they can 'grasp the spectrum of illness it is capable of causing'.

'It is only by leaving no stone unturned when investigating unexplained illnesses that humans can best prepare for microbial threats,' he said.

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The man died at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The CDC said the Bourbon virus belongs to the thogotovirus group, which has previously been known to cause symptoms in only eight other people in Europe, Asia and Africa.