Stony Brook Medicine researchers identified New York's first known Bourbon virus case on Long Island. The state's Wadsworth Center finalized the diagnosis in May 2026 after specialized antibody testing.
The Short Version
This Pristine Pest news report covers a discovery most Westchester households haven't heard about yet. Researchers at Stony Brook Medicine confirmed the first known New York case of Bourbon virus, a rare and potentially serious infection carried by the lone star tick. It's the same tick species already in the news for alpha-gal syndrome, the red-meat allergy covered in our earlier report on New York's new alpha-gal reporting law.
The case wasn't caught in real time. It surfaced when researchers went back through years of banked patient samples looking for a pathogen nobody had been testing for.
How Stony Brook Found It
The research team screened blood samples from 107 patients who had presented with fever and tick-borne illness symptoms between 2019 and 2024. Two of those samples came back with neutralizing antibodies for Bourbon virus. New York's Wadsworth Center, the state health department's specialized testing lab, confirmed the diagnosis after further testing. The first case was pinpointed in April 2026, with the diagnosis finalized in May 2026.
One of the two patients was initially misdiagnosed, went on to develop severe symptoms and was hospitalized before Bourbon virus was identified as the actual cause.
Dr. Luis Marcos, professor at the Renaissance School of Medicine and director of the Tick-Borne Disease Clinic at Stony Brook, put it plainly:
"For these reasons, the Bourbon virus is likely more prevalent than we think in our region and other cases are likely not being diagnosed."
What Bourbon Virus Actually Does
Bourbon virus was first identified in 2014, named for Bourbon County, Kansas, where the first known case was found. It has stayed largely confined to the central United States in the years since. It causes fever, fatigue, rash, headache, body aches and nausea, a symptom set that overlaps heavily with Lyme disease. That overlap is exactly why the Stony Brook team believes cases are being missed elsewhere in the region, not just in New York.
There is no vaccine to prevent Bourbon virus and no specific antiviral medicine to treat it. Care is supportive, aimed at managing symptoms rather than clearing the infection directly.
The Tick Behind Both Bourbon Virus and Alpha-Gal
The lone star tick is a different species from the blacklegged deer tick most Westchester households already watch for. It also transmits ehrlichiosis, tularemia and alpha-gal syndrome, the delayed red-meat allergy that New York moved to make a reportable disease this year. Its range has been pushing north into New York in recent years, which means a tick-prevention routine built entirely around deer ticks is increasingly missing part of the actual risk.
Lone Star Tick vs. Deer Tick
Most Westchester tick checks are trained to spot one species. Here's how to tell them apart.
| Lone Star Tick | Deer Tick (Blacklegged) | |
|---|---|---|
| Field mark | Single white dot on the adult female's back. Males have white streaks along the edge. | No white dot. Smaller, with dark reddish-brown to black legs. |
| Diseases carried | Bourbon virus, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, alpha-gal syndrome | Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, Powassan virus |
| Bite behavior | Aggressive. Can attack in groups, meaning one encounter often means multiple bites. | Waits in leaf litter and tall grass. Bites are typically solitary. |
| Where it's found | Both wooded areas and open, sunny parts of a yard | Mostly wooded edges, leaf litter and tall grass |
| Active season | Spring through late summer | Nearly year-round in mild weather. Peaks in spring and fall. |
General tick identification guidance from CDC and NY State Department of Health tick-borne disease resources.
Why the Diagnostic Gap Matters for Westchester
The delay in finding this case is itself the warning. It took researchers combing back through five years of stored samples to catch a pathogen nobody had a reason to test for in real time. A patient with a fever and body aches after a summer outdoors is far more likely to be tested for Lyme disease than Bourbon virus, simply because doctors have a routine test for one and not the other.
That gap doesn't close on its own. As Dr. Marcos noted, the case suggests the virus is already circulating more widely in the region than the official count shows. That puts the burden back on prevention rather than diagnosis, since a delayed or missed diagnosis is currently the most likely outcome of an actual infection.
What This Means for Westchester Homeowners
Most residential tick programs in the region were built around deer-tick habitat: leaf litter, tall grass and the wooded edges of a property. Lone star ticks favor similar cover but are more likely to be encountered in open, sunny parts of a yard as well, meaning a treatment plan focused only on the tree line can leave real exposure untouched. Check pets too. They can carry ticks indoors well before a human household member ever gets bitten.
With a second tick-borne pathogen now confirmed circulating in the state and overlapping symptoms making self-diagnosis unreliable, a professional tick control assessment that treats a property's full tick habitat, not just the wooded perimeter, is a more reliable answer than repellent alone for households with kids or pets spending time in the yard. Westchester's own LymeShield program is built around that broader habitat approach rather than a single-species assumption.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Bourbon virus been found in New York?
Yes. Stony Brook Medicine confirmed New York's first Bourbon virus case in a Long Island patient. The diagnosis was finalized in May 2026 by the state's Wadsworth Center after researchers retrospectively tested banked blood samples from 107 patients with fever and tick-borne illness symptoms collected between 2019 and 2024.
What are the symptoms of Bourbon virus?
Fever, fatigue, rash, headache, body aches and nausea. Symptoms closely resemble Lyme disease, which researchers believe is part of why cases are likely being missed or misdiagnosed.
Is there a treatment or vaccine for Bourbon virus?
No. There is currently no approved vaccine to prevent Bourbon virus and no specific antiviral medicine to treat it. Care is supportive, focused on managing symptoms.
How is a lone star tick different from a deer tick?
The lone star tick is identifiable by a single white dot on the adult female's back. It's a more aggressive biter that can attack in groups, and it's found in both wooded and open sunny areas of a yard. The deer tick (blacklegged tick) lacks the white dot, waits in leaf litter and tall grass at wooded edges, and is the species that carries Lyme disease. The lone star tick instead carries Bourbon virus, ehrlichiosis, tularemia and alpha-gal syndrome.
Sources
Last updated: July 26, 2026
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