CRIMEAN HEMORRHAGIC FEVER CONGO SPAIN |Scientific study

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A study carried out by researchers from the Institute for Research in Hunting Resources (IREC) of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research has managed to detect the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in 10.5% of the ticks captured and analyzed in a peri-urban area of ​​Ponferrada (León).

The results of this study suggest the need to consider that the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus may be spreading to the northwest of Spain, not only through those species of ticks that act as main vectors of the virus, but also through others that until now had not been considered as transmitting species.

According to a study released by the Health and Biotechnology Research Group (SaBio) of the IREC and consulted by EFE, 10 of 95 ticks analyzed in this region of El Bierzo – where since 2021 three clinical cases in humans have been reported, with one death. due to this disease – carried the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus.

High mortality

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is one of the human viral diseases that most concerns the World Health Organization due to its high mortality, the lack of effective vaccines, its capacity for transmission from person to person and the enormous capacity for mutation of the virus. virus that causes it.

It appeared unexpectedly in humans in northwest Spain in 2021 with a case that was associated with a tick bite on the outskirts of the city where the patient lived (Ponferrada), and in 2022 two additional cases were reported in the region. , with the tragic result of the death of a 51-year-old forestry agent.

With these, There are now 13 cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever confirmed in Spain since 2013.

After the first case was reported in 2021, these researchers began a study to determine if this virus was circulating in ticks on the outskirts of the city of Ponferrada.

Tick ​​collection

With this objective, a 30-kilometer walking tour was carried out on the outskirts of Ponferrada, where ticks were collected using cotton blankets to identify the species involved in the local transmission of the virus.

In addition, during sample collection, traces of wild ungulates, important tick hosts, were observed, and the potential presence of Hyalomma marginatum was evaluated based on the density of farms and cattle.

The collected ticks were taken to the laboratory for morphological identification and RNA analysis to evaluate the prevalence of the virus.

Using PCR and sequencing, 10 of the 95 ticks analyzed were found to be infected by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, perhaps one of the highest infection rates ever documented in free-living, foraging ticks.