Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease that was first recognised in China in 2009,1 and subsequently reported in South Korea and Japan.2,3 The disease is caused by the tick-borne phlebovirus, SFTS virus (STFSV)—a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus.1,4 The increasing number of cases, extensive geographical expansion, and persistently high case fatality rate (CFR) of the disease are causing widespread concern in east Asia. SFTS has been listed as a nationally reportable disease in China, but the surveillance data are difficult to analyse systematically because patient clinical information is not recorded.