Disease

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever reported in Spain

Health officials in Spain have reported two locally acquired Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) cases, a first in the country, according to a Ministry of Health announcement Thursday. According to officials, the initial case was a patient who was treated at a Madrid hospital. The individual has since died. The second case is a female ICU nurse who treated the initial case.

According to the WHO, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a widespread disease caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family. The CCHF virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of 10–40%. CCHF is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asian countries south of the 50th parallel north – the geographical limit of the principal tick vector. The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide range of wild and domestic animals such as cattle, sheep and goats.