Seroepidemiological Studies of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Domestic and Wild Animals

Abstract

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a widely distributed, tick-borne viral disease. Humans are the only species known to develop illness after CCHF virus (CCHFV) infection, characterized by a nonspecific febrile illness that can progress to severe, often fatal, hemorrhagic disease. A variety of animals may serve as asymptomatic reservoirs of CCHFV in an endemic cycle of transmission. Seroepidemiological studies have been instrumental in elucidating CCHFV reservoirs and in determining endemic foci of viral transmission. Herein, we review over 50 years of CCHFV seroepidemiological studies in domestic and wild animals. This review highlights the role of livestock in the maintenance and transmission of CCHFV, and provides a detailed summary of seroepidemiological studies of wild animal species, reflecting their relative roles in CCHFV ecology.

Fig 1. Geographic summary of countries represented in CCHFV seroepidemiological surveys.

Countries with evidence of seroprevalence in animals represented in blue, countries with absence of seroprevalence represented in green, and countries without reported serosurveys represented in grey.

Fig 2. Total international CCHFV seroprevalence reported in domestic animals by species.

Seroprevalence determined by sum of seropositive animals over the sum of total animals, sampled internationally. Studies that did not report sample numbers or differentiate between types of animal were excluded.