A rural Jackson County resident has become the third case of the tickborne Heartland Virus reported in Illinois since 2018.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reports the older person recently tested positive for the virus.
The first two Heartland virus cases in Illinois were reported in 2018 in Kankakee County and Williamson County.
Likely spread by the Lone Star tick, more than 50 cases of Heartland virus disease have been reported in the Midwest and southern United States since 2009.
Heartland virus was first identified in 2009 when two Missouri farmers who had been bitten by ticks were admitted to a hospital. Almost all individuals with Heartland virus have been hospitalized.
Although most people infected have fully recovered, a few older individuals with medical comorbidities have died.
There are no vaccines to prevent Heartland Virus infections.
