title: Molecular (ticks) and serological (humans) study of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in the Iberian Peninsula, 2013-2015.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease, mainly transmitted through tick bite, of great importance in Public Health. In Spain, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) was detected for the first time in 2010 in Hyalomma lusitanicum ticks collected from deer in Cáceres. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of CCHFV in ticks from Cáceres, and from other Spanish areas, and to evaluate the presence of antibodies against the virus in individuals exposed to tick bites.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2053 ticks (1333 Hyalomma marginatum, 680 H. lusitanicum and 40 Rhipicephalus bursa) were analyzed using molecular biology techniques (PCR) for CCHFV detection. The determination of specific IgG antibodies against CCHFV in 228 serum samples from humans with regular contact with ticks (at risk of acquiring the infection) was performed by indirect immunofluorescence assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CCHFV was not amplified in ticks, nor were antibodies against the virus found in the serum samples analyzed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The absence of the CCHFV in the ticks studied and the lack of antibodies against the virus in individuals exposed to tick bites would seem to suggest a low risk of acquisition of human infection by CCHFV in Spain.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Palomar
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain.
authors.forename: Aránzazu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Portillo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santibáñez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García-Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Patología Infecciosa, Hospital Universitario de Badajoz, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Sanz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Jaén, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Márquez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valladolid, Microbiología, Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Eiros
authors.affiliation: Centro de Rickettsiosis y Enfermedades Transmitidas por Artrópodos Vectores, Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Logroño, Spain. Electronic address: jaoteo@riojasalud.es.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oteo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D062306:Geography, Medical; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000821:virology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D064927:Tick Bites / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: CCHFV IgG; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF); Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV); España; Fiebre hemorrágica de Crimea-Congo; Garrapatas; Hyalomma spp.; IgG vFHCC; Rhipicephalus spp.; Spain; Ticks; Virus de la fiebre hemorrágica de Crimea-Congo