Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever cases in Turkey

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an arbovirus infection, which is transmitted through ticks or via blood and secretions. Until recently, human cases of CCHF were unknown in Turkey; however, several acute disease cases were reported in 2002. We report on the investigation of a cluster of suspected CCHF cases in the middle part of the Black Sea from May 2002 to October 2003. The medical charts that we reviewed were obtained from all local physicians and our field investigations. 'Suspected case' was defined with regard to time, place, and both clinical and laboratory characteristics. A total of 108 patients were defined as suspected case. Among them 36 patients were reached and blood samples taken for examination for CCHF by using ELISA and RT-PCR. According to the laboratory analysis, 80.6% (29/36) were acute cases and 8.3% (3/36) were past CCHF infections. The overall mortality rate was 5.6%. There was no nosocomial infection; however, there were 2 family clusters. Tick exposure was the most prevalent risk factor (74.2%). A multidisciplinary collaboration should be developed in order to understand the magnitude of the disease and also to keep it under control.