SURVEY OF CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER VIRUS IN RHIPICEPHALUS AND
DERMACENTOR SPECIES TICKS FROM SOUTH-EASTERN ROMANIA
Abstract
Few previous studies suggested the circulation of Crimean Congo
hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in Romania, but were based on
serological techniques. The present work investigated the presence of
CCHFV RNA in Rhipicephalus sp. and Dermacentor sp. ticks, in
south-eastern Romania. In July 2019, 127 ticks were collected from the
environment and from domestic ruminants (sheep and goats) in five
different locations from Tulcea county. All tick samples were tested
using Real Time RT-PCR based on SYBR Green with the purpose to detect
the CCHFV. For this purpose, specific primer sets for each of the six
known CCHFV genotypes and one degenerate primer pair for the detection
of all genotypes were used. None of the samples was identified as
positive (prevalence <2,5%, p=0.05), highlighting the nil or
the low prevalence of CCHFV RNA in Dermacentor sp. and Rhipicephalus sp.
ticks from Tulcea county, in 2019. Further studies based on the
serological surveillance of animals and more comprehensive ticks testing
by molecular biology methods if CCHFV circulates at very low level in
Romania.