Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Humans and Livestock, Pakistan, 2015–2017
Ali Zohaib, Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Ammar Athar, Muhammad Hammad Hussain, Awais-ur-Rahman Sial, Muhammad Tayyab, Murrafa Batool, Halima Sadia, Zeeshan Taj, Usman Tahir, Muhammad Y. Jakhrani, Jawad Tayyab, Muhammad Azam Kakar, Muhammad Shahid, Tahir Yaqub, Jingyuan Zhang, Qiaoli Wu, Fei Deng, Victor M. Corman, Shū Shěn, Iahtasham Khan, Zheng‐Li Shi
Abstract
C rimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is caused by CCHF virus (CCHFV), an emerging zoonotic virus belonging to the order Bunyavirales within the family Nairoviridae. The virus is maintained through a tick-vertebrate transmission cycle (1); the primary vectors are ticks from the genus Hyalomma (2,3). Wild and domestic mammals, including livestock species such as sheep, goats, and cattle, are amplifying hosts (2). CCHFV is listed as a high-priority zoonotic pathogen of humans in the World Health Organization Research and Development Blueprint (https://www.who.int/blueprint/ priority-diseases) because of its potential to cause a public health emergency and the absence of specific treatment and vaccines.