What is CCHF, the new deadly virus spreading across Europe due to climate change?

Severe heatwave, devastating wildfires and now a perfect habitat for ticks carrying CCHF, a deadly virus which in the worst cases results in death. A lethal disease usually found in the Balkans, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, is spreading across Europe as climate change pushes the insects to move up through the continent, according to scientists. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also issued a warning over the potential spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). In 2016, the illness claimed its first victim in Spain. Since CCHF poses a serious threat to public health, scientists have now issued warnings that it is slowly moving north and west across the continent. In India, one person lost his life due to CCHF last month in Gujarat. It is a state with a majority of the country’s cases of this disease. Also read: Cerberus, Charon, Xenia: Why are some heatwaves now being named? What is CCHF? According to WHO, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral haemorrhagic fever usually transmitted by ticks. The majority of CCHF cases affect people working in the livestock business, including farmers, butchers, and veterinarians. CCHF outbreaks constitute a threat to public health services as the virus can lead to epidemics, has a high case-fatality ratio (10–40 per cent), potentially results in hospital and health facility outbreaks, and is difficult to prevent and treat. According to the United Nations health agency, the disease is endemic in nations south of the major tick vector’s range, which extends as far north as Mongolia, and is thought to kill 500 or more people year in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia. Also read: Explained: What is the deadly Cerberus heatwave sweeping across Europe? How is it transmitted? CCHF is primarily transmitted to humans through tick bites or contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and after slaughter. Close contact with the blood, saliva, organs, or body fluids of infected people can also result in human-to-human transmission. Cattle, sheep, and goats are just a few examples of domestic and wild animals that can carry the CCHF virus without displaying any symptoms of sickness. Ostriches can carry and spread the virus, which has caused human cases in endemic places even though birds are typically immune to infection. According to a WHO report, the virus remains in the bloodstream of animals for about a week, enabling ticks of the Hyalomma genus to complete the transmission cycle when they bite. According to the report, hospital-acquired infections can be caused by contaminated medical supplies, reused needles, and improper sterilisation of medical equipment. [caption id=“attachment_12881132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption] What are the symptoms? Depending on how the virus was contracted, CCHF has a variable incubation period. The average time for symptoms to show after a tick bite is one to three days, but they can take up to nine days, reported News18. The incubation period follows contact with contaminated blood or tissues and normally lasts five to six days, but can last up to 13 days. Fever, muscle aches, disorientation, neck and back discomfort, headaches, painful eyes, and light sensitivity are among the symptoms that appear rapidly. Early on, people may have mood fluctuations, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and sore throat. As the illness worsens, agitation may be replaced by drowsiness, depression, lassitude, and upper right abdomen pain with enlargement of the liver. Other clinical symptoms include a rapid heartbeat, swollen lymph nodes, and petechiae, a rash brought on by bleeding into the skin. Petechiae and other hemorrhagic manifestations, such as ecchymoses, are bigger rashes that can arise from petechiae. Patients may also exhibit signs of hepatitis, and those who are extremely unwell may eventually have kidney damage, liver failure, or pulmonary failure. Nearly 30 per cent of CCHF patients die, and most of these deaths happen in the second week of the illness. Around the ninth or tenth day following the onset of symptoms, patients who recover typically start to show improvement. Also read: Explained: Underground climate change, the silent hazard causing cities to sink How did it spread in Europe? Several European nations, including Spain, Russia, Turkey, and the UK, have recorded cases of CCHF. The prevalence of this infectious disease is rising throughout Europe. As temperature patterns are disrupted, pathogens are thriving in geographies that traditionally had a climate hostile to them. According to The Independent, Professor Ali Mirazimi, a virologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, told Modern Diplomacy, “The ticks are moving up through Europe due to climate change, with longer and drier summers.” The United States-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained the habitat provided by water is changing, animals are moving to new areas, and people are coming into contact with animals, all of which contribute to the spread of diseases. Warmer temperatures increase the habitat of ticks and other insects and give them more time to reproduce.

How is it diagnosed? Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), antigen detection, serum neutralisation, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, and viral isolation by cell culture are a few of the laboratory techniques that can be used to diagnose CCHF virus infection, reported News18. An antibody response, however, might not be visible in patients with terminal diseases or in the early stages of illness. In these situations, a diagnosis is made by identifying the virus or its RNA in tissue or blood samples. There isn’t now a widely accessible and efficient vaccine against CCHF for use in people. A vaccine made from inactivated mouse brain tissue has been created and is only being utilised on a small scale in Eastern Europe due to safety concerns. There is no vaccine for the virus in either humans or animals, and treatment generally consists of managing symptoms. According to the WHO, “The antiviral drug ribavirin has been used to treat CCHF infection with apparent benefit.” Also read: Tomatoes more expensive than petrol: How viruses have destroyed the crop How to prevent it? To lessen CCHF infection in the absence of a vaccine, it is essential to implement some preventive measures. To reduce tick-to-human transmission, one may put on protective attire like long sleeves and pants, wear light-coloured clothing to make ticks easier to notice, use acaricides (chemicals that kill ticks) approved for clothing, use repellents on your skin and clothes, check skin and clothing frequently for ticks, and remove any you find one. Additionally, don’t let tick infestations spread to your animals, stables, or barns and avoid regions where ticks are abundant and when they are most active. In order to prevent transmission from animals to people, follow these measures – When handling animals or their tissues, especially during butchering, culling, or slaughtering procedures, whether in an abattoir or at home, wear gloves and protective clothes. Animals should either be routinely treated with pesticides two weeks before slaughter or quarantined before entering slaughterhouses. Moreover, to reduce human-to-human transmission, avoid making close physical contact with those who have the CCHF. When caring for sick persons, wear safety gear including gloves. Regularly wash your hands after attending to or visiting sick people. With inputs from agencies