The Bourbon virus — a rare tick-borne disease — is raising worrisome questions after a Missouri woman who spotted ticks on her body later became ill and died.
Tamela Wilson, 58, first spotted the ticks back in May, but didn't think much of them, reported International Business Times.
At the time, she removed the ticks and went on her way. However, after becoming ill, she went to see a doctor who told her she had a urinary infection, which she tried treating with antibiotics.
The urinary infection eventually ended up being diagnosed as deadly Bourbon virus, which has no cure. She died on June 23, about three weeks after she was admitted to the hospital.
"She literally couldn't even pick up her phone. She had no strength," Wilson's daughter, Amie May, told CBS News. "My sister had been calling her and couldn't get a hold of her. My mom said the phone was right there ringing, but she could not pick it up to answer it."
May said her mother was admitted to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis on May 31 where doctors performed skin biopsies.
"They did a couple skin biopsies, but they came back fine," May said. "They did other testing for tick-borne disease, but those were also negative."
"They told us, you know, basically, they were hoping it would leave her system," May said. "They would continue treating her symptoms and hope everything would go away on its own."
Wilson only got worse, though, as the virus began spreading to other parts of her body, including her mouth.
"I'm a nurse and I've never seen anything like I'd seen my mother's mouth," May said. "It got so bad toward the end she couldn't talk, couldn't drink, couldn't eat nothing."
Wilson's blood work was sent to the CDC and it confirmed Wilson had Bourbon virus that was first identified at a University of Kansas hospital in 2014.
Doctors said she was only the fifth confirmed case of the deadly disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there's currently no way of treating the rare tick-borne illness.
"It's viral. There isn't anything you can do. It just has to run its course," May said, per CBS News.
"I was somebody, like, I didn't really give much attention to a tick bite. You get a bite, pull it out and go about your business," May said. "You don't think about complications coming from a tick bite. As far as I know, other tick-borne diseases are treatable. That's what's scary about this one — you don't know if you're gonna make it or not."
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