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Colorado Tick Fever
CTF; CTF virus infection; Mountain tick fever; American tick fever; American mountain tick fever
Dermacentor andersoni). It occurs in the the Rocky Mountain states at elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet. Learn about symptoms and prevention.
Rocky Mountain Wood Tick, Dermacentor andersoni (Male vs Female)
Image by CDC/ Dr. Christopher Paddock; Photo credit: James Gathany
close up of a tick in a clear vial
Image by National Park Service - Photo/M.Reed
Colorado Tick Fever (CTF) is a rare viral disease spread by the bite of an infected Rocky Mountain wood tick found in the western United States and western Canada. There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat CTF. You can reduce your risk of infection by avoiding ticks.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Negative contrast electron micrographs of A) Colorado tick fever virus and B) Banna virus (BAV).
Image by Houssam Attoui, Fauziah Mohd Jaafar, Philippe de Micco, and Xavier de Lamballerie/Wikimedia
Colorado tick fever (CTF) is a rare disease that is caused by the CTF virus. CTF virus is spread to people through the bite of an infected tick. The most common symptoms of CTF are fever, chills, headache, body aches, and feeling tired.
Colorado tick fever virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). It is important to perform tick checks after spending time outdoors and removing ticks before they have a chance to attach. The virus is not spread from person to person, except in rare instances by blood transfusion. Learn more about preventing tick bites here.
Colorado tick fever (CTF) occurs in people who live in or visit areas of the western United States and western Canada that are 4,000–10,000 feet above sea level. Most cases of CTF occur during spring or summer months when ticks are most active.
Anyone bitten by a tick in an area where the virus is circulating can get infected with Colorado tick fever virus. People who work outdoors or participate in outdoor activities are most likely to be exposed to ticks.
The incubation period (time from tick bite to onset of illness) ranges from 1 to 14 days.
The most common symptoms are fever, chills, headache, body aches, and feeling tired. Some patients will have sore throat, vomiting, abdominal pain, skin rash, or stiff neck. About half of all people who develop symptoms of Colorado tick fever virus have several days of fever followed by several days of improvement, then a second short period of fever and illness.
Preliminary diagnosis is based on a patient’s symptoms and history of probable exposure to a tick in an area where Colorado tick fever (CTF) occurs. Laboratory tests typically detect CTF virus genetic material (RNA) or antibodies against the virus in blood.
There is no specific medication to treat Colorado tick fever. Severe illnesses are treated by supportive care which may include medications to reduce pain and fever, hospitalization, and intravenous fluids.
There is no vaccine to prevent Colorado tick fever (CTF). The best way to prevent CTF is to reduce your risk of tick bites.
If you are concerned that someone you know might have CTF, consult a healthcare provider.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Colorado Tick Fever
Image by CDC/ Dr. Fred Murphy; Sylvia Whitfield
People become infected with Colorado tick fever (CTF) virus from the bite of an infected Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). Rocky mountain wood ticks are found in the western United States and western Canada at 4,000–10,000 feet above sea level.
Ticks become infected with CTF virus when they feed on the blood of a reservoir animal (an animal that has the virus circulating in its bloodstream). The most important reservoirs for CTF virus are small rodents such as squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. After the tick becomes infected, it passes the virus to other hosts (animal or human) while it feeds.
The virus is not transmitted from person to person, except in rare instances by blood transfusion. Since CTF virus can remain in red blood cells for several months, blood and bone marrow should not be donated for 6 months following infection.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Woman resting in Bed with Fever
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Reoviridae Infections
Image by CDC/ Dr. Fred Murphy; Sylvia Whitfield
Colorado tick fever (CTF) virus is a member of the family Reoviridae, subfamily Spinareovirinae, genus Coltivirus. CTF virus contains 12 segments of double-stranded RNA. The virus genome is relatively large compared to other arthropod-borne viruses at ~29,000 base pairs. The virus has an icosahedral capsid structure and a diameter of 80 nm.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Doctor, Blood, Life, Veins, Pain
Image by Antonio_Corigliano/Pixabay
Preliminary diagnosis of Colorado tick fever (CTF) is based on the patient’s signs and symptoms, places and dates of travel, activities, and history of potential tick exposure.
Laboratory diagnosis of CTF is generally accomplished by testing of serum to detect viral RNA or virus-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M and neutralizing antibodies. Antibody production can be delayed with CTF, so tests that measure antibodies may not be positive for 14–21 days after the onset of symptoms. RT-PCR (reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) is a more sensitive test early in the course of disease.
CTF testing is available at some commercial and state health department laboratories and at CDC. Contact your state or local health department for assistance with diagnostic testing. They can help you determine if samples should be sent to the CDC Arbovirus Diagnostic Laboratory for further testing.
CTF cases are reportable to local public health authorities in certain states. As of September 2020, CTF was specifically reportable in nine states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
A patient receiving an intravenous drip
Image by DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS)
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Tick in hand
Image by Catkin
Protect yourself and your family by preventing tick bites. Colorado tick fever (CTF) virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected tick. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat infection with CTF. Reduce your risk of getting sick by:
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Tick Trail Sign
Image by CDC
As people spend more time outdoors, so do many insects and pests. Among them are ticks, which are small bloodsucking parasites and arthropods.
Some diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia.
One of the biggest things to keep in mind when thinking about the risk of tick bites is your location. Different regions in the U.S. are home to various types of ticks. The type or species of a tick determines what diseases it may carry.
NIH MedlinePlus magazine spoke with two officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to find out more about tick bites, how to avoid them, and new research that could increase our understanding of how to treat tick-related conditions.
The deer tick (Ixodes scapulars) is found mainly in the Eastern and upper Midwestern regions of the U.S. It can cause conditions like Lyme disease and babesiosis.
The dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is found in the Eastern half of the U.S. and can cause diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. There have been reports of dog ticks as far west as California.
The lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum) lives in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. It carries diseases such as ehrlichiosis and Southern tick associated rash illness.
"The east coast here in the U.S., parts of the south and Midwest, and even in California you have the major [tick-borne] disease, which is Lyme disease," said José Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Vector Biology Section of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research in NIAID's Division of Intramural Research. "People should be aware of ticks and where they can encounter them. In other parts of the country you have other diseases, like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the Rocky Mountains, and so on."
Online maps that show tick activity in different regions of the country can be helpful in understanding the risk in your region.
Maliha Ilias, Ph.D., Lyme Disease Research Program Officer in NIAID's Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said it is important to prevent ticks from coming into contact with your skin.
Dr. Ilias discussed that there are ways to prevent exposure to ticks. She noted that the best way to do this is wear clothing that covers your arms and legs; tuck your pants into your socks or even put tape around openings in clothing so ticks have no access; and wear light-colored clothing to also help you see if a tick is on you. When you are in the woods, keep to the center of the trail, where ticks are less likely to be (ticks tend to stay in shrubs and bushes).
As soon as you are home, check yourself or have a family member help check you for ticks. Use a fine-tooth comb through your hair and check folds of the skin. You should also shower and wash your clothes at a high heat so any ticks on you are killed.
If you do find a tick on yourself or a family member, be sure to stay calm.
"I think the most important thing for folks to know is that if they find the tick on themselves, don't panic," Dr. Ilias said, noting that it typically takes 36 hours for the bacteria that causes Lyme diseases to travel from the tick gut to its salivary glands and into the host.
It is also important to remove the tick properly. "There is a lot of folklore about how to take a tick out of your skin. Some people even talk about having a lighted cigarette close by, things like that," Dr. Ribeiro said. "The most important thing is just to use appropriate forceps such as tweezers. Grab the whole tick and pull it out."
A tick's saliva (or spit) is important in its ability to feed. A combination of compounds in a tick's saliva stops human blood from clotting while the tick feeds.
"What we're seeing now is ticks change the composition of their saliva every few days. So the cocktail that they're showing on Monday will be completely different from the cocktail that will be showing up on Friday," Dr. Ribeiro said.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health are studying the saliva of arthropods to see if there is a way to create a vaccine that will affect the saliva. A current study is looking at a vaccine that works against the saliva of sand flies, so the parasite cannot establish itself at the site of the initial bite. This sort of vaccine will be harder to develop for ticks, as the tick is constantly changing the composition of its saliva.
The sooner you remove a tick, the better. It takes time for infections to reach a person's blood stream, especially Lyme disease. A tick needs to remain attached for 36 hours before Lyme disease can be transmitted, so remove any ticks as quickly as you can.
However, you may not always know if you’ve been bitten by a tick, and therefore won’t know to keep an eye out for symptoms of tickborne disease.
Looking forward, Dr. Ilias noted the importance of a sensitive and specific diagnostic test for Lyme disease, particularly to detect it early. She added that Lyme disease can be effectively treated if it is diagnosed early.
Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should:
Source: NIH MedlinePlus Magazine
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