A Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) case has been confirmed in a resident of Shymkent, Kazakhstan, near the border of Uzbekistan.

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According to local media, “The citizen was at field work on the territory of the Turkestan region, upon arrival he was at home and after a few days he began to develop clinical manifestations. At home, he did the treatment himself and on the third day of the disease called an ambulance and was hospitalized in the city infectious diseases hospital, ”said Galymzhan Abishev, deputy head of the department for quality control and safety of goods and services in Shymkent.

The patient’s condition, according to the deputy chief sanitary doctor of Shymkent, was difficult, but thanks to the competent work of doctors, the man began to recover.

In 2019, one CCHF case was reported in Shymkent.

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%.

Animals become infected by the bite of infected ticks and the virus remains in their bloodstream for about one week after infection, allowing the tick-animal-tick cycle to continue when another tick bites. Although a number of tick genera are capable of becoming infected with CCHF virus, ticks of the genus Hyalomma are the principal vector.

The CCHF virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter. The majority of cases have occurred in people involved in the livestock industry, such as agricultural workers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians. Human-to-human transmission is possible.