FOUR new animal diseases that can jump to humans are being tracked by UK health chiefs.
One of the ‘zoonotic’ bugs comes one from the same family as Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever, one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
So far, no cases have been detected in the UK.
Infections have only been recorded among people in Japan, Russia and China.
Zoonotic diseases are bugs than can jump from animals to humans.
The viruses are responsible for a long list of deadly illness: HIV, Ebola, Sars, Zika and swine flu, to name just a few. And more recently, Covid-19.
More of these killer diseases are emerging all the time – each year, between two and five new zoonotic viruses are discovered, according to the World Health Organisation.
As part of its work tracking infectious diseases, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published details on the new zoonotic viruses that could reach Britain.
One, a tick-borne virus called Oz, killed a woman in her 70s in 2022.
Oz is a type of thogotovirus, which causes fevers and brain swelling among those it infects. Most people who contract the virus die.
A local media report said the infected woman died of inflammation of the heart muscle.
It’s believed the bug, which has been around since 2018, is only situated in Japan and is most likely transmitted by ticks, who pick up bug from infected animals.
There have been no reports of cases outside the country, according to the UKHSA.
They also raised the alarm over Haseki tick virus, found in ixodid ticks and patients in Russia.
Testing suggested the bug is closely related to killer flavi-like viruses, which includes yellow fever, dengue, japanese encephalitis, west nile viruses, and zika.
One person was hospitalised with the virus in city of Vladivostok, south east Russia.
Research suggests the disease is spreading in at least two regions of the country, but further investigation is needed to determine it’s spread globally.
Coxiella burnetii is another emerging bug the agency is closely tracking.
The virus has been found been in Australian fur seals.
It’s thought new mutations to the bug trigger miscarriages and allow the infection to spread to humans.
Yezo, another tick-borne virus, is also being closely tracked by the agency.
The bug was first discovered in Japan in 2021.
It’s part of the same family as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever – disease that kills up to 40 per cent of those infected, according to the WHO.
A UKHSA spokesperson said: “We regularly monitor for reports of novel pathogens or new strains associated with known pathogens in other countries.
“There have been no detections of these infections in the UK.”
