title: Sheep and goats as indicator animals for the circulation of CCHFV in the environment.
abstract: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne virus, which causes a serious illness with case-fatality rates of up to 80% in humans. CCHFV is endemic in many countries of Africa, Asia and Southeastern Europe. Next to the countries with endemic areas, the distribution of CCHFV is unknown in Southeastern Europe. As the antibody prevalence in animals is a good indicator for the presence or absence of the virus in a region, seroepidemiological studies can be used for the definition of risk areas for CCHFV. The aim of the present study was to reveal which ruminant species is best suited as indicator for the detection of a CCHFV circulation in an area. Therefore, the prevalence rates in sheep, goats and cattle in different regions of Albania and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were investigated. As there are no commercial tests available for the detection of CCHFV-specific antibodies in animals, two commercial tests for testing human sera were adapted for the investigation of sera from sheep and goats, and new in-house ELISAs were developed. The investigation of serum samples with these highly sensitive and specific assays (94-100%) resulted in an overall prevalence rate of 23% for Albania and of 49% for Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Significant lower seroprevalence rates for CCHFV were found in cattle than in small ruminants in given areas. These results indicate that small ruminants are more suitable indicator animals for CCHFV infections and should therefore be tested preferentially, when risk areas are to be identified.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Isolde
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia.
authors.forename: Slavcho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mrenoshki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staubach
authors.affiliation: Fachdienst Veterinärwesen und Verbraucherschutz, Landkreis Vorpommern-Rügen, Stralsund, Germany.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brüning
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wernike
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hechinger
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Tirana, Tirana, Albania.
authors.forename: Kristaq
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Berxholi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia.
authors.forename: Dine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitrov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald, Isle of Riems, Germany. Martin.groschup@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Groschup
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle / Q000821:virology*; D004777:Environment; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000662:veterinary; D006041:Goats / Q000821:virology*; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: CCHF; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus; Prevalence rate; Risk area; Ruminants; Southeastern Europe