The virus is suspected to be transmitted by ticks or insects, and avoidance of bites is recommended to reduce risk of infection.

In June 2017 a 58-year-old female Missouri State Park employee died from an infection of the Bourbon virus after it had been misdiagnosed for a significant period of time.

[1] The virus was discovered in 2014 by Olga Kosoy, Amy Lambert and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Fort Collins, Colorado, in a sample of blood from the case patient.

[2] Finally, examining supernatants from the cell cultures under the electron microscope revealed virus particles of different shapes, including filaments and spheres.

The virus particles show different morphologies, including filamentous and roughly spherical forms, and have projections from the surface.

Like other members of the Orthomyxoviridae, the Bourbon virus genome is single-stranded, negative-sense RNA, which is segmented, or divided into a number of separate pieces.

[4] Dana Hawkinson from the University of Kansas Hospital, where the patient was treated, has speculated that the virus had been previously present undetected.

[5][7] The patient had high fever, headache, decreased appetite, muscle aches, joint pain, fatigue, malaise, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and a maculopapular rash on the abdomen, chest and back.

[2][5][6] Laboratory abnormalities observed included a decrease in the patient's white cell and platelet counts, considered to be caused by bone marrow suppression, and an increase in liver enzyme levels.

[2][6] These symptoms and alterations in blood cells are similar to those seen with tick-borne illnesses including ehrlichiosis and disease caused by the Heartland virus.