To estimate endemic areas for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Greece, a country-wide seroepidemiological study was conducted, and 1611 human sera were prospectively collected along with data regarding possible risk factors for acquisition of infection, and tested for CCHF virus IgG antibodies by ELISA. The overall seroprevalence was 4.2%, with significant differences among prefectures, ranging from 0 to 27.5%. Multivariate analysis revealed that slaughtering and agricultural activities were significant risk factors for CCHFV seropositivity. The significantly high seroprevalence in specific prefectures, together with the extremely low number of CCHF cases, suggest that this phenomenon might be strain-related.
Seroprevalence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is high in some regions of Greece, but only 1 case of disease has been reported. We used 4 methods to test 118 serum samples that were positive for CCHFV IgG by commercial ELISA and confirmed the positive results. A nonpathogenic or low-pathogenicity strain may be circulating.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease transmitted to humans by bite of infected ticks or by direct contact with blood or tissues of viremic patients or livestock. The present cross-sectional meta-analysis study is based on previous data which have shown that the human CCHFV seroprevalence in specific regions of Greece is high (> 5%). In the absence of human cases, it has been suggested that a non- or low-pathogenic strain is circulating in the country causing asymptomatic infections. A spatial cluster analysis was performed to assess the geographical variations in CCHFV seropositivity and to identify the risk factors. The overall CCHFV seroprevalence is 3.8%, with significant rate difference between the eastern and western part of the country. Apart the risk factors described in previous studies (age, sex, tick bite, agropastoral activities), the altitude, the land cover type and the transitional woodland/shrub land per person, as well as the number of livestock per person, and specifically the number of goats, sheep and cattle per person, were shown to affect significantly the seroprevalence. Tick studies are needed to identify the circulating strains and unravel the mystery of CCHF epidemiology in Greece.
Methods: This work integrates hosts ecology, biogeography, comparative hosts-pathogens phylogeny to propose one hypothesis about the making of the SARS-CoV ancestor. The Coronavirinae polymerase sequence has been targeted by Rt-PCR in noninvasive samples from bats collected in isolated and forested area in Thailand. A Coronavirinae phylogeny based on all available sequences have been inferred by several methods.Results: Two new coronaviruses were detected in two Hipposideridae bat species in Thailand: one Betacoronavirus-b that exhibited long-lasting infection in an isolated bat colony and one Alphacoronavirus in another colony. Interestingly, viruses detected in Africa or in Europe are related to those that currently circulate in South-East Asia, reminding the underlying influence of the host phylogeny on the Coronavirinae phylogeny.Conclusion: These findings illuminate the origin and the natural history of the Rhinolophus-hosted SARS-CoV lineage by pushing forward the hypothesis of a Betacoronavirus spill-over from Hipposideridae to Rhinolophidae and then from Rhinolophidae to civets and Human. The common ancestor of Hipposideridae and Rhinolophidae families is a key taxa in the understanding of the actual repartition of Betacoronaviruses.
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