The role of Veterinary Medicine in controlling of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is one of the most important and the most widespread tick-borne viral disease of human beings in the world. CCHF is thought to have originated in Africa 1000-5000 year ago, although strain Ap92 found in Greece is also considered an ancient lineage. The natural reservoir it is quite possible that the earliest account of infection with Crimean-Congo virus is that found in the ‘Kitab al-Hawi’ (a medical textbook) composed by the Persian clinician Abu Bakr al-Razia, also known as Rhazes (c. 854 – 932). Since 2000 the infection has caused epidemics in Turkey, Iran, Russia, Uganda and Pakistan. Since 1999, CCHF has been reported in 26 of the 31 provinces of Iran, with the greatest numbers of cases in Sistan and Baluchestan, Isfahan, Fars, Tehran, Khorasan, and Khuzestan. The data also indicated viremic livestock act as the main routes of CCHF virus transmission in Iran, as those are dangerous for transmission of CCHFV to human. The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide range of wild and domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats. Viremic mammals can transmit CCHFV to ticks. Many birds are resistant to infection, but ostriches are susceptible. Reptiles rarely affected. In domestic animals, the infection is usually sub-clinical and lasts from a few days to a few weeks. So, shepherds, campers, agricultural workers, veterinarians, abattoir workers, and other persons in close contact with livestock and ticks are at risk of infection. In Iran, antibodies to CCHFV in sheep and cattle were first detected in 1970. The detection of IgG in livestock revealed that 35.8% of 5842 sera were positive for CCHFV IgG. However, the first confirmed human case of CCHF was diagnosed in Iran in August1999. The control of CCHF include: Reduce ticks in the environment, Quarantine for animal, Wear mask, gloves and gowns when slaughtering and butchering animals in slaughterhouses or at home to prevent skin contact with infected animal tissue or blood. In this paper the role of Veterinary Medicine in controlling of CCHF will discuss in details.