Researchers at Sechenov University in Moscow announced a disturbing discovery on Tuesday.
Russian scientists have discovered a new strain of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), the Sechenov University press service told TASS on Tuesday.
“A new strain of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has been discovered in southern Russia”say Russian scientists in a study published on Tuesday, and quoted by news agencies TASS et Ria Novosti.
Caused by Nairovirus
Led by researchers from Sechenov University (Moscow), the Stavropol Anti-Plague Research Institute, the Pasteur Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, this research concludes that there is a new strain of this common disease caused by a virus (Nairovirus) from the Bunyaviridae.
Transmitted to humans mainly by ticks and cattle, according to theWorld Health Organization (WHO), Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever can be transmitted from person to person through contact with blood, secretions or other bodily fluids.
Epidemic waves
Spread in a number of countries in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and some Asian states, the virus is occasionally responsible for epidemic waves in Russia, which worry the authorities.
Sechenov University states that the main and most dangerous symptom of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever is internal bleeding.
Ensuite, “the disease progresses rapidly; in severe cases, sudden liver or lung failure may occur after five days of illness”add the scientists.
The case fatality rate for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, against which there is no preventive vaccine for humans or animals, is estimated at between “10 et 40%”recalls the WHO.