TAMPA, FL (WAFB) - It's a running joke among teenagers to leave band camp with a story that could be told for a lifetime.
For one teenage boy attending a band camp in Florida, that story began with a visit to urgent care for a sudden fever and rash.
After multiple misdiagnoses related to the symptoms, his cells were sent to the University of Florida, where researchers have found what they believe to be "Keystone," a mosquito-borne virus found in animals, but never humans... until now.
Talk about a lifelong story.
In a report published by WGFL, researchers speculate the boy may not be the only one exposed to Keystone.
Residents in the area who built up a natural resistance over time may have also been exposed to the virus. The teenager, a recent transplant to Florida, lacked a natural immunity to Keystone and is reported to be the only one infected at the camp.
“Although the virus has never previously been found in humans, the infection may actually be fairly common in North Florida,” J. Glenn Morris, director of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute, in a statement.
He published a report on the virus on June 9 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers with the university say there is no test that quickly identifies the virus, which may have contributed to the initial misdiagnoses.
"We are beginning to suspect that it may be more prevalent than expected, and nobody was looking for it," says Caroline Stephenson, a UF graduate research assistant.
Keystone, typically found in animals such as deer and squirrels, poses some risk for brain infections in humans, like many similar viruses, according to reports. Thankfully, that wasn't the case for the teenage boy.
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