The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Crawford County Health Department identify a rare tickborne illness.

A Crawford County resident was found to have the Heartland Virus Disease. Healthcare providers diagnosed the resident late last month after further testing was coordinated through the CDC. This is the first case of Heartland in Crawford County and only the third case identified in Kansas since the virus’s discovery in northwest Missouri in 2009. The previous two cases were identified in Miami County in 2015 and Anderson County in 2018. To date, there have been over 50 cases of Heartland diagnosed across areas of the Midwest and Southern United States.

KDHE Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Erin Petro says people must take the risk of tickborne disease seriously and take personal protective measures for themselves and their pets to reduce the chance of acquiring a tickborne illness.