1/4. Imported Crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever.Crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease that may also be transmitted through person-to-person transmission by exposure to infected body fluids. Despite its wide geographic distribution in animals, CCHF virus is rarely associated with recognized human diseases. We report the first case of imported CCHF in france.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = tick-borne (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/4. A common-source outbreak of Crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever on a dairy farm.An outbreak of Crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) on a dairy farm in the Orange Free State in 1984 is described. Forty-six cows were purchased from the western Cape Province in January 1984; 2 died from the tick-borne disease anaplasmosis in March and a labourer who helped butcher the carcasses became ill a few days later. Another cow died at the end of April and within 9 days 4 people who had come into contact with its blood became ill. antibodies to CCHF virus were found in the sera of the 5 patients but not in other residents of the farm. Three patients recovered from a severe influenza-like illness without seeking medical attention; 1 patient, who was admitted to hospital, recovered from illness marked by haematemesis, epistaxis and amnesia and the 5th patient died of complications of surgery for brain haemorrhage. Antibody studies indicated that many of the cows became infected with CCHF after their arrival on the farm. It can be deduced that animals reared in tick-free, or relatively tick-free, circumstances, which are then moved to where they are subject to heavy parasitization by ticks, can acquire common tick-borne diseases of livestock plus CCHF infection simultaneously. In such circumstances there is a definite risk of human exposure to CCHF-infected blood or other tissues.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = tick-borne (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/4. Crimean congo-haemorrhagic fever treated with oral ribavirin.Crimean-congo Haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an often-lethal haemorrhagic fever caused by a tick-borne virus. There are no published data on ribavirin treatment of CCHF-infected patients, despite established in-vitro and in-vivo sensitivity. We report three health workers--two surgeons and a hospital worker--infected with CCHF virus in pakistan who were treated with oral ribavirin 4 g/day for four days, then 2.4 g/day for six days. Intravenous ribavirin was unavailable. All three patients were severely ill with low platelet and white-cell counts, raised aspartate transaminase and evidence of impaired haemostasis. Based on published reports, all had an estimated probability of death of 90% or more. The patients became afebrile, and their haematological and biochemical abnormalities returned to normal within 48 h of ribavirin treatment; all made a complete recovery, and developed IgG and IgM antibody to CCHF virus. Our experience with ribavirin treatment is encouraging, but does not constitute evidence of efficacy. Given the difficulties in gathering adequate treatment data, we propose a consensus protocol for both intravenous and oral treatment of CCHF. This protocol could be distributed to key medical personnel in areas endemic for CCHF and used to provide a firm basis for effective treatment recommendations.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = tick-borne (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/4. Investigation of tick-borne viruses as pathogens of humans in south africa and evidence of Dugbe virus infection in a patient with prolonged thrombocytopenia.In the course of investigating suspected cases of viral haemorrhagic fever in south africa patients were encountered who had been bitten by ticks, but who lacked evidence of infection with Crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus or non-viral tick-borne agents. cattle sera were tested by enzyme-linked immunoassay to determine whether tick-borne viruses other than CCHF occur in the country. The prevalence of antibody in cattle sera was 905/2116 (42.8%) for CCHF virus, 70/1358 (5.2%) for Dugbe, 21/1358 (1.5%) for louping ill, 6/450 (1.3%) for West Nile, 7/1358 (0.5%) for nairobi sheep disease, 3/625 (0.5%) for Kadam and 2/450 (0.4%) for Chenuda. No reactions were recorded with Hazara, Bahig, Bhanja, Thogoto and Dhori viruses. The CCHF findings confirmed previous observations that the virus is widely prevalent within the distribution range of ticks of the genus Hyalomma, while antibody activity to Dugbe antigen was detected only within the distribution range of the tick Amblyomma hebraeum. Cross-reactivity for the nairoviruses, Hazara, nairobi sheep disease and Dugbe, was detected in serum samples from 3/72 human patients with confirmed CCHF infection, and serum from 1/162 other patients reacted monospecifically with Dugbe antigen. The latter patient suffered from febrile illness with prolonged thrombocytopenia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = tick-borne (Clic here for more details about this article) |