title: Current status of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region: issues, challenges, and future directions.
abstract: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the most widespread, tick-borne viral disease affecting humans. The disease is endemic in many regions, such as Africa, Asia, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Central Asia. Recently, the incidence of CCHF has increased rapidly in the countries of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO EMR), with sporadic human cases and outbreaks of CCHF being reported from a number of countries in the region. Despite the rapidly growing incidence of the disease, there are currently no accurate data on the burden of the disease in the region due to the different surveillance systems used for CCHF in these countries. In an effort to increase our understanding of the epidemiology and risk factors for the transmission of the CCHF virus (CCHFV; a Nairovirus of the family Bunyaviridae) in the WHO EMR, and to identify the current knowledge gaps that are hindering effective control interventions, a sub-regional meeting was organized in Muscat, Oman, from December 7 to 9, 2015. This article summarizes the current knowledge of the disease in the region, identifies the knowledge gaps that present challenges for the prevention and control of CCHFV, and details a strategic framework for research and development activities that would be necessary to curb the ongoing and new threats posed by CCHFV.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Oman.
authors.forename: Seif S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Al-Abri
authors.affiliation: Department of Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Oman.
authors.forename: Idris Al
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Abaidani
authors.affiliation: Department of Arbovirus and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fazlalipour
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leblebicioglu
authors.affiliation: Head of Infectious Diseases Department, Infectious Disease Department, Rostov State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pshenichnaya
authors.affiliation: Hubert Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Ziad A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Memish
authors.affiliation: Arboviruses and VHFs, WHO Collaborating Centre (Special Pathogens), National Infection Service Public Health England, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hewson
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases, The Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Eskild
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Infectious Hazards Management, World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mala
authors.affiliation: Infectious Hazards Management, World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Tran Minh
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Nhu Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Infectious Hazards Management, World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Cairo, Egypt. Electronic address: malikm@who.int.
authors.forename: Mamunur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahman Malik
authors.affiliation: Infectious Hazards Management, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Formenty
authors.affiliation: Infectious Hazards Management, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeffries
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D014943:Global Health; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D019083:Mediterranean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: CCHF; CCHF virus; Eastern Mediterranean Region; Ixodid ticks; Knowledge gaps