Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Clade IV (Asia 1) in Ticks of Western Iran

Abstract

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick, or by direct contact with CCHFV-infected patients' blood or the products of infected livestock. In 2012, ticks were collected in eight regions of Lorestan Province, Iran. In total, 434 ticks were collected. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used for the detection of CCHFV RNA. Of 434 ticks, 419 (96.6%) ticks were from the family Ixodidae (hard ticks) and 15 (3.5%) ticks were from the family Argasidae (soft ticks). The presence of CCHFV RNA was detected in 29 (6.7%) of 434 ticks. The infected tick species include Hyalomma asiaticum (n = 7, 7.4%), Hyalomma anatolicum (n = 12, 13.2%), Hyalomma marginatum (n = 1, 16.7%), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n = 9, 4.3%). These empirical data demonstrated that the majority of CCHFV-positive ticks belonged to the Ixodidae. None of the Argasidae and Haemaphysalis sulcata species was infected with CCHFV. The phylogenetic analyses of the tick-derived CCHFV strains revealed that all 29 viral strains fell in clade IV (Asia 1). The most abundant species of tick collected in this study was R. sanguineus followed by different species of Hyalomma. Given the infection rate among collected ticks, H. marginatum was the most abundant infected tick species (16.7%) followed by H. anatolicum (13.2%), H. asiaticum (7.4%), and R. sanguineus (4.3%).

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cases in the North of Iran have three distinct origins

“…The number of CCHF patients among the Iranian population is of concern and is being more regularly monitored by the Iranian health authorities. By advancing the knowledge of CCHF and based on our previous studies of the molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of CCHFV in Iran [9,10], this investigation focused on recent samples and provided an insight into the genetic origins of CCHFV that circulates in Iran. Thus, phylogenetic analysis of the CCHFV strains in the northern of Iran was undertaken in order to trace the potential origin of CCHFV strains from symptomatic patients.…”

West Nile Virus lineage‐2 in Culex specimens from Iran

“…Although an ongoing surveillance system for arboviruses in Iran has been established since 2000, mainly tick‐derived Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus was investigated . The seroprevalence of DENV and WNV in humans in Iran was investigated for several years, but data about DENV and WNV vectors are scarce .…”

An insight into the ecobiology, vector significance and control of Hyalomma ticks (Acari: Ixodidae): A review

“…CCHF virus titer increases in the testes, salivary glands and ovaries after the feeding thus enhancing the transmission risk to vertebrate host (Dickson and Turell, 1992). In 1960s, CCHF virus was first found to be present in adult Hyalomma ticks (Kayedi et al, 2015). Gonzalez et al (1992) (Hoogstraal, 1979;Bakheit et al, 2012;Goddard, 2012).…”