Epidemiological Investigation of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever infection in Cattle in some provinces of Turkey

Authors : Murat ŞEVİK

Pages : 24-29

Doi:10.35864/evmd.512901

View : 19 | Download : 7

Publication Date : 2018-07-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic disease which causes lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans. The purpose of this study was to investigate the CCHF infection status in cattle in the Central Anatolia region and the central-west part of the Aegean region of Turkey. For this purpose, EDTA whole blood (n = 329) and sera (n =329) samples were obtained from epidemiologically independent herds (n =94) during the months of March 2016 and September 2017. The exposure status to CCHF was determined using ELISA for detection of CCHF virus (CCHFV) specific IgG antibodies in cattle sera samples. Real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR was used to detect viral RNA in EDTA whole blood samples. The CCHFV-specific IgG antibodies were detected in 4 out of 329 animals, accounting for 1.2% prevalence rate. CCHFV RNA was not detected in EDTA whole blood samples. The low seroprevalence suggests only sporadic introduction of CCHFV. Further epidemiological studies are needed to determine the distribution of CCHFV infection in livestock in Turkey.
Keywords : Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Epidemiology, Turkey, Cattle, ELISA, Real time RT PCR