Colorado tick fever | |
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Other names | Mountain tick fever, American tick fever, American mountain tick fever |
Geographic distribution of Dermacentor andersoni ticks and Colorado tick fever virus disease cases, United States, 2010–2019. | |
Specialty | Infectious disease |
Colorado tick fever (CTF) is a viral infection (Coltivirus) transmitted from the bite of an infected Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). It should not be confused with the bacterial tick-borne infection, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Colorado tick fever is probably the same disease that American pioneers referred to as "mountain fever".[1][2]
Colorado tick fever virus (CTFV) infects haemopoietic cells, particularly erythrocytes, which explains how the virus is transmitted by ticks and also accounts for the incidence of transmission by blood transfusion.[citation needed]