SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER (CCHF) IN SMALL RUMINANTS AFTER A RECENT HUMAN OUTBREAK IN BASRA GOVERNORATE, SOUTHERN IRAQ IN 2023
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic tick-born disease transmitted by a lethal virus with a high case mortality rate and widespread geographic distribution. Human cases of CCHF infection were reported in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Southern and Eastern Europe, however, the disease is endemic in Iraq since 1979. Therefore, the present study was designed to evaluate the sero-epidemiological status of CCHF virus infection in small ruminants after a recent human outbreak in Basra Governorate, southern Iraq in 2023. Small ruminants (sheep and goats) were used as an experimental model in the current study. Serum samples were obtained from sheep (n=287) and goats (n=121) located in rural and urban areas around recent focal cases of CCHF infection in Basra, Iraq and then screened using the “ID Screen® CCHF Double Antigen Multi-species – CCHFDA” ELISA Kit. Our results showed that 13.23% of sheep and 4.2% of goats had high CCHFV seropositivity. Furthermore, 76.9% of sheep and 23.1% of goats with severe tick infestation had higher CCHFV seropositivity than those without tick infestation. The high seropositivity rate for CCHFV among small ruminants suggests that tick infestations influence the infection and may contribute to the high endemicity rate in this region, which is subsequently responsible for the high number of reported cases of CCHF infection in Basra in 2023. CCHF, however, must be screened nationally and an eradication program must be implemented to control and prevent it.
