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Ticks can really get under your skin. Literally. And in many parts of the country they spread illness, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Add to that list a new scourge: Heartland virus, which doesn't respond to treatment.
蜱虫真的能进入皮肤。没开玩笑。在很多乡村蜱虫传播疾病，包括莱姆病和落基山斑疹热。还有一项新的疾病：心脏地带病毒，目前无法治疗。
This infection was described for the first time last year after two Missouri men were hospitalized with fever and headaches. No one was sure how the men contracted the disease. Now a study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene confirms that ticks were the transmitters.
去年，两个密苏里人被诊断为发烧头痛，这是这种疾病首次被记载。没人知道这两个人是怎么感染这种疾病的。如今，在美国热带医学与卫生杂志上的一项研究表明蜱虫是传播者。
Researchers tromped out to the two men's properties, and 10 more sites in the region, to set up tick traps. These included containers of dry ice, which emit carbon dioxide to attract ticks, and flannel bedding, which traps them. They also picked some ticks off of area dogs and horses.
研究人员探寻了这两个人的住处以及住房区域十个地点，设立了捕捉蜱虫的陷阱。包括干冰储存容器，释放二氧化碳吸引蜱虫，还有法兰绒被褥，逮捕蜱虫。他们也从当地的狗和马身上发现了些蜱虫。
All told, they collected more than 56,000 tick specimens. And they found the virus residing in lone star ticks—the most common in the region. About one in 500 of the arachnids carried the virus. Enough to make me check for ticks. And then check again.
总之，他们收集了超过56000件蜱虫标本。他们发现病毒寄居在当地最常见的孤星蜱体内。五百只里面就有一只携带这种病毒。这足以让我一再检查周围是否有蜱虫了。
—Katherine Harmon
