2.1 Specimen source
Blood sample: A total of 17 cases of suspected SFTS were reported from
May 2019 to October 2019 in Shenyang Infectious Disease Hospital. Serum
was collected from the patients and stored at −80 °C. human samples were
reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of China CDC.
Tick samples: free ticks in patients’ farmlands, forests, and other
environments in nearby counties and cities were collected. Liquid
nitrogen milling, and centrifugation were performed to prepare tick
suspensions. Total nucleic acid extraction was performed as in the
following method, and reverse screening for virus isolation was
performed.