By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — News that federal and state health officials are studying a new virus linked to the death of a Bourbon County resident caused little stir in the county Tuesday. But that could change once ticks return to the county’s woods and prairies.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Monday it had joined the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in investigating the “Bourbon virus” that contributed to the death of a Bourbon County man last summer. The man died with symptoms like fever and fatigue common to other tick-borne illnesses, and state and federal health officials believe the new virus also is transmitted through the bites of ticks or other insects.

In a video posted by the University of Kansas Hospital, infectious disease specialist Dana Hawkinson said the virus is unlike anything ever seen in Kansas or even the United States.

“Its genome is similar to viruses that have been found in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, but no virus like that has ever been identified in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “Those other viruses that it seems to be related to, there are very few cases reported to cause illness in humans and animals. Certainly nothing as we have seen here.”

Hawkinson said he and his team had few answers as the Bourbon County resident’s health declined.

“That caused a lot of frustration for myself and the other medical personnel caring for him because we just couldn’t answer questions to the family, and to ourselves, as to why this was happening to this gentleman,” he said.

It is not known if Bourbon virus was the cause of death or how much it contributed to the resident’s death, according to KDHE.

Without more cases to study, Hawkinson said it would be impossible to say if the illness is always that severe or if there are milder cases.

There are more than a dozen tick-borne illnesses identified in the United States, including Heartland virus, which was found in Missouri last spring.

The case history of the Bourbon County man who died has been reviewed. Now that the CDC has developed a blood test to confirm Bourbon virus, there are plans to test other residents with similar symptoms who also tested negative for the Heartland virus in the past year.

Investigators also will be testing ticks and other insects for the new virus.

A diagnosis, while a first step, does not provide many treatment options, Hawkinson said.

“There’s essentially no treatment available for a lot of our viral illnesses,” he said.

He and state officials encouraged prevention, including wearing long pants and sleeves and using insect repellent with DEET when in wooded or brushy areas. When returning from those areas, Kansans are encouraged to check themselves for ticks promptly.

In addition to symptoms such as fever and fatigue, those infected with Bourbon virus may experience muscle aches and severe appetite suppression that is akin to anorexia, Hawkinson said.

“They just don’t feel like eating,” he said.

Hawkinson said April to September is the usual timeline for tick season in Kansas, but in recent years warm weather has extended the season. The past two years, the Kansas Department for Wildlife, Parks and Tourism has disseminated tick warnings starting in April and May.

News of the Bourbon virus quickly spread to national websites in the United States and United Kingdom.

But in Bourbon County, with Christmas coming and the ticks long gone, all was quiet.

An employee at the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department’s Fort Scott office said Tuesday she had received no calls about the virus from county residents.

Mary Winn, an infection prevention nurse at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, said she had not received any calls from concerned residents either, but that may change once the weather warms.

“Another tick-borne virus is worrisome, not only to health care providers but the population at large, because we are rural and people are out and about,” Winn said. “Farming and ranching is their business. It’s their livelihood.”

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker wants to lift a state law requiring all motorcyclists wear a helmet.

Newly elected state Rep. Shane Roden of Cedar Hill recently filed legislation that would require only minors to wear helmets.

Anyone driving or riding as a passenger on a motorcycle now must to wear a helmet or face a maximum $25 fine.

A similar bill that would lift the helmet requirement for those 21 and older failed last session.

The measure passed the House but never made it to the Senate floor.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Wealthy political activist Rex Sinquefield’s donations to Republican Catherine Hanaway’s campaign for governor have reached $900,000.

Campaign finance records show Sinquefield this week gave Hanaway another $10,000, the 10th straight week he’s given her that amount.

The recent donation comes after an October contribution from Sinquefield for $750,000 and another for $50,000 in March.

Most of the more than $1.1 million she’s raised so far this year has come from Sinquefield.

Sinquefield is a retired investment firm founder who has been one of Missouri’s most active political donors in recent years. He has backed efforts to cut income taxes and revamp public school teacher evaluation methods.

Hanaway is a former U.S. attorney and Missouri House speaker who is the only declared GOP gubernatorial candidate for 2016.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A tower at Kansas State University will be used in a 30-year-long project with the National Science Foundation.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the 26-foot tower at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in the spring will begin collecting data for the climate research project.

The $430-million project with the National Ecological Observatory Network project will collect information from more than 100 sites across the country.

Data from the project will be provided free to the public.

The Kansas State University tower will gather data on climate change, land use change and invasive species.

Crews in Kansas will study small mammals, mosquitoes, plants and soil.

Researchers also will focus on the spread of the hantavirus by deer mice and transmission of West Nile virus by mosquitoes.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Traffic-related fatalities and injuries in Kansas are up on roads with newly increased 75 mph speed limits.

The Kansas City Star reports numbers from the state’s transportation department show a 54 percent increase in highways deaths on those roads since the speed limit was raised. The number of crashes overall have been steady.

Injuries are up about 13 percent compared with the two years before the new speed limit went into effect in 2011.

Highways affected include I-135 north out of Wichita, and rural patches of I-35, I-70, U.S. 69 and I-470 near Topeka.

An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman says higher limits often lead to more accidents.

But state transportation officials say it’s too early to draw conclusions.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A second initiative petition to legalize marijuana in Missouri has been filed.

Secretary of State Jason Kander this week announced the petition, 2016-013, is open for public comment.

The proposal would amend the Missouri Constitution to allow residents to use the drug for medical or recreational use. Missourians also could legally grow the plant if the initiative passes.

Initiative petitions need approval from Kander’s office before they can be circulated to the public. Residents vote on the measures if they receive enough signatures to make it on the ballot.

Another initiative, 2016-009, that would allow those 21 years or older to use or grow marijuana also is open for public comment.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Unrest that erupted after in August after a white police officer shot an unarmed black 18-year-old in suburban St. Louis has been named the top Missouri story of 2014 by Associated Press reporters and editors.

Violence erupted in late November after a grand jury announced it would not indict officer Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown, who some witnesses said had his hands up.

A judge’s decision overturning Missouri’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was named the state’s second-biggest story of the year, followed by the state’s execution of 10 inmates even as questions swirled around the lethal drugs used to end their lives.

The Kansas City Royals’ improbable run through the playoffs that ended with a Game 7 World Series loss to San Francisco came in fourth.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A southwest Missouri school district will be short more than $47,000 because of a county assessment error.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Christian County assessor Danny Gray said that earlier media reports of a $1.9 million shortfall reflect assessed tax valuation. The means Nixa Public Schools will get $47,300 less.

The county recently stopped valuing personal property as if it were in perfect condition. It now assess vehicles assuming they’re worn an average amount. But county programmers didn’t apply the new policy, and those who paid online had their vehicles overvalued.

Superintendent Stephen Kleinsmith says the mistake will cost the school “about a teacher.”

Thirteen other school districts in Christian County also were affected, but Nixa took the hardest hit.

ANTHONY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas growers have been harvesting bumper crops of cotton this season. That is giving a boost in the state to a crop touted for its good profit margin and low water use.

The Hutchinson News reports that the uptick in yields is a positive sign for a crop that has been struggling to regain acreage since it spiked at more than 115,000 acres in 2006. Kansas has four cotton gins.

The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service estimates cotton production in Kansas at 52,000 bales, up 27 percent from a year ago.

Cotton acres harvested in 2014 will be up 12 percent, with 29,000 acres cut. The average yield is forecast at a record 861 pounds per acre, or about 104 pounds per acre more than a year ago.