The saying "sleep tight, don't let the bugs bite" may sound much more scary since tick bites have killed 18 people in Xinyang city, Central China's Henan province. The 18 people were among 557 reported cases of suspected HGA(人粒细胞无形体病) , which reduces white blood cells and platelet(血小板) counts in the blood, leading to organ failure and death. The disease is curable if it is treated soon enough. But to find the cause is not easy. Of the 40 patients at Hospital, only 14 were sure that they had been bitten by ticks, while others have no clue whether they had been bitten or not. Doctors did not have enough knowledge about the disease because it was only identified in 2007.

18 deaths from tick bites reported in Central China