Serological and molecular epidemiology of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Ghaemshahr county in Mazandaran province; Iran

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever disease which is known as an endemic disease within some provinces of Iran. Ticks play an important role in transmission of the disease. As vector and reservoir, ticks transmit CCHF virus from livestock to human. The current study reports the presence of CCHFV in Ghaemshahr county of Mazandaran province, in north of Iran based on the evidences obtained from ELISA and RT-PCR. Based on our results, IgG antibodies against CCHFV were detected in 4(4.8%) out of 84 sheep sera samples. Forty sera were obtained from people who were in close contact with the examined sheep, none of which had IgG antibodies against CCHFV. Using RT-PCR, we confirmed the existence of CCHFV genome in 1.7% of hard tick samples. Sequence analysis demonstrated that CCHFV genomes isolated from ticks were 100% identical to those isolated from the corresponding livestock. This study confirms the presence of the virus in this region; so people in close contact with livestock and health care workers should be alerted.