NY's first case of tick-borne Bourbon virus confirmed on Long Island - Newsday

Michael Larkin, left, of Shirley, was hospitalized after getting bitten by ticks in his yard. Dr. Luis Marcos identified his illness as Bourbon virus, the first case in New York. Credit: Thomas Hengge After days landscaping around his Shirley home in May 2021, Michael Larkin noticed two ticks on his thigh. Then came the punishing headaches, rash, high fevers, and night sweats, followed by a five-day stay at Stony Brook University Hospital before he fully recovered. This month — five years after falling ill — Larkin, 67, found out the cause. Stony Brook doctors said he had the state's first confirmed case of Bourbon virus, a rare tick-borne disease. "I was very surprised to get a phone call last week and very surprised that it’s so rare," Larkin said in an interview Wednesday at the Symposium on Tick-borne Disease at Stony Brook’s Renaissance School of Medicine. Bourbon virus was first discovered in 2014, in Bourbon County, Kansas. It shares symptoms with other tick-borne diseases: high fever, body aches and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is spread to humans through the bite of a lone star tick, one of the most common ticks on Long Island. There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus. Doctors focus on treating the various symptoms with IV fluids, antibiotics and pain medication.  Get the latest stories every week about health and wellness, covering topics from medicine and mental health to updates on the coronavirus and new research. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. In 2019, the Bourbon virus was detected in a tick removed from a Long Islander. But the person never followed up, so researchers did not know if he was infected. There have been so few confirmed cases in people that the agency only said a "limited number" have been reported in the southern and midwestern parts of the United States. Six cases have been reported as of January, according to the authors of a case study of a man who died after contracting Bourbon virus in Kansas. But experts believe the actual number is much higher. Unlike more common tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and babesiosis, testing for Bourbon virus is not available commercially and has to be done at specialized labs, such as the state Health Department's Wadsworth Center upstate, said Dr. Luis Marcos, a professor of medicine and infectious disease physician at Stony Brook Medicine. Marcos conducted the research that determined Larkin had Bourbon virus. He said the virus has been detected in ticks in the community and it's likely people have had the virus, but either recovered quickly from mild symptoms or didn't have any at all. "The way we diagnose people is in the hospital because they are very sick," said Marcos. "So we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg." Jorge Benach, the retired chair of Stony Brook University’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, whose early research helped identify the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, called the finding, "a very good piece of sleuthing work." He said the increase of lone star ticks on Long Island could be linked to even more cases of Bourbon virus. "The more you look, the more you are going to find," Benach said. Like many Long Islanders, Larkin had grown up when you might come across a dog tick in the woods, but Suffolk County was still years away from becoming a national epicenter for tick-borne illness such as Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to red meat caused by a tick bite. "I don't remember too many ticks," he said. Once Larkin started feeling ill, he requested a Lyme disease test and a dose of doxycycline, an antibiotic often used for Lyme disease. After taking it for four days and feeling worse, he went to the hospital. "I had very bad headaches, high fever, sweats," he recalled. Tests for more common tick-borne diseases came up negative but his liver enzymes were high. Larkin received pain medicine, antibiotics and fluids during his hospital stay and he started feeling better. "It’s strange they couldn’t figure it out, I guess," he said. "Luckily, I was able to get over it." While Larkin was still at Stony Brook, he met Marcos, who was conducting a long-term study of adults who had been hospitalized with fever, sweats, fatigue and headache after a tick bite or who received a diagnosis of a tick-borne illness at the hospital. More than 200 people enrolled between 2019 and 2024 but only 107 followed up. Their blood samples were sent to the state Department of Health so they could be screened for three tick-borne viruses that are rare but growing: Powassan, Heartland and Bourbon. "We see a lot of patients that do not test positive for any tick-borne disease we are able to test for," Marcos said. "We don’t know the impact of the virus unless we test people." Another person in the study had evidence of a previous Bourbon virus infection but researchers were unable to determine when and where it took place. Larkin is now diligent with tick checks and wears clothing treated with permethrin, which repels ticks. He recently checked its effectiveness. "It's still working because I put a live tick on it, and watched it jump off," he said. Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment. Updated 56 minutes ago New details on death of 7-year-old girl ... Five sent to hospital after gas station malfunction ... National Grid won't raise rates ... State budget impact on LI Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories Updated 56 minutes ago New details on death of 7-year-old girl ... Five sent to hospital after gas station malfunction ... 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