Haemorrhagic Fever found in France in ticks

Ticks carrying Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever have been found on cattle on the French/Spanish border for the first time. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12676231/Killer-eye-bleeding-virus-FRANCE-time-amid-fears-tick-borne-disease-soon-make-Britain-home.html

[url]https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/emerging-diseases-other-health-threats-alphabetical-a-thru-h/crimean-congo-fever/980885-crimean-congo-hemorrhagic-fever-first-detection-of-the-virus-on-ticks-collected-from-cattle-farms-in-the-south-of-france-sante-publique-france-october-24-2023[/url] or https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/emerging-diseases-other-health-threats-alphabetical-a-thru-h/crimean-congo-fever/980885-crimean-congo-hemorrhagic-fever-first-detection-of-the-virus-on-ticks-collected-from-cattle-farms-in-the-south-of-france-sante-publique-france-october-24-2023 ;

The Hyalomma marginatum tick is a relatively large hard tick (8 mm), recognizable by its long rostrum and its two-colored legs (whitish rings at the joints). It is found in the scrubland or certain pastures of the Mediterranean coast, from the Spanish border to the Var, to Ardèche and the Drôme. Its adult form bites domestic and wild ungulates (cattle, horses, wild boars, and to a lesser extent small ruminants or deer) without danger for them since, even infected with the CCHF virus, the latter do not develop symptoms. In addition, this adult form can occasionally bite humans. It is only active in spring, between April and July.

“Our collections showed that the tick was distributed throughout the Mediterranean, in rather dry open natural habitats such as scrubland or maquis. According to future climate models, the Mediterranean climate is likely to expand, particularly in the Rhône valley, and on the Atlantic coast to the west, it is likely that the range of this species will expand » , estimates Laurence Vial, veterinary acarologist at CIRAD, and specialist in ticks.

Be careful in scrubland, maquis and grazing areas between April and July

The frequency of bites to humans is assumed to be low, as these ticks have no particular appetite for humans. In addition, they are generally more visible than other species of ticks because they are a little larger: it is therefore easier to spot them and remove them before they attach and engorge.

The CCHF virus can also be transmitted to humans through contact with bodily fluids, such as blood, with infected animals, knowing that the latter only remain viremic for around ten days before developing an immune response ( with lifelong persistence of antibodies).

“In Spain, the FHCC virus had been detected in ticks of the Hyalomma genus a few years before the appearance of human cases. Currently, one to three human cases of hemorrhagic fever are reported each year in this country. However, in this country, another species of tick is considered to be the majority vector: Hyalomma lusitanicum . In France, the distribution of this tick species is still unknown and needs to be studied. We are perhaps facing a different epidemiological cycle, hence our caution in making hasty comparisons between the case of Spain and that of France ,” explains Laurence Vial.

DJ, So the ticks are active in spring...May not like humans that much...And there could be several types of ticks and possibly more forms of [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean%E2%80%93Congo_hemorrhagic_fever[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean%E2%80%93Congo_hemorrhagic_fever ;

CCHF cases are observed in a wide geographic range including Africa, Russia, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia.^[1] Typically small outbreaks are seen in areas where the virus is endemic.^[1] In 2013 Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan documented more than 50 cases.^[2] The fatality rate is typically between 10 and 40%, though fatalities as high as 80% have been observed in some outbreaks.^[1] The virus was first observed in Crimea in the 1940s and was later identified as the same agent of what had been called Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.^[4]

In the past 20 years, CCHF outbreaks have been reported in Eastern Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union, throughout the Mediterranean, in northwestern China, central Asia, southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. CCHF is on WHO’s priority list for Research and Development and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) priority A list, as a disease posing the highest level of risk to national security and public health.

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Population genetics[edit]

CCHFV is the most genetically diverse of the arboviruses: its nucleotide sequences frequently differ between different strains, ranging from a 20% variability for the viral S segment to 31% for the M segment.^[10] Viruses with diverse sequences can be found within the same geographic area; closely related viruses have been isolated from widely separated regions, suggesting that viral dispersion has occurred possibly by ticks carried on migratory birds or through international livestock trade. Reassortment among genome segments during coinfection of ticks or vertebrates seems likely to have played a role in generating diversity in this virus.^{[citation needed]}

Based on the sequence data, seven genotypes of CCHFV have been recognised: Africa 1 (Senegal), Africa 2 (Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa), Africa 3 (southern and western Africa), Europe 1 (Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Russia and Turkey), Europe 2 (Greece), Asia 1 (the Middle East, Iran and Pakistan) and Asia 2 (China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan).^{[citation needed]}

DJ....just one other major global health risk...We NEED to make public health top-priority !