Presence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Ourense

A person was recently confirmed dead in Salamanca due to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. This disease is transmitted mites of the genus Hyalomma, a common genus in Asia, Europe and Africa. The presence of these arachnids in the province of Ourense is increasing and more and more municipalities are reporting their presence.

The presence of these mites began in Spain due to the migratory cycles of certain birds. At this time, due to the small number of cases, the disease is not considered endemic. This species does not usually infect humans.

unless it is an accident or a specific incident, since its main subjects are birds and other animals, both wild and domestic.

Infestation map

To present it more clearly the presence of these invertebrates in the province of Ourense we transmitted data to interactive map on which we see in red the cities in which these ticks exist, and in gray those that have not yet been discovered:

Previous cases

The latest case reported in Salamanca joins another twelve cases reported in patients who have experienced symptoms of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in our country since 2013, when human transmission was first recorded in the province of Avila. .

In late April, a group of researchers warned of “the need to consider that the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHF) may spread to northwestern Spain

” The announcement came after it was confirmed that 10 of 95 ticks collected in the suburb of Ponferrada were infected with the aforementioned virus. However, this is not surprising in Valdeorras, where veterinarians were already aware of its presence.

Symptoms of the disease

If you are bitten by a tick that carries the CCHF virus, it usually takes three to thirteen days for symptoms to appear. first symptoms.

If they appear, they do so suddenly. The patient quickly develops characteristic symptoms:

• Heat
• Headache
• General discomfort
• Pain in joints and muscles
• Sweating
• Gastrointestinal and/or respiratory symptoms
• Hypotension
• Relative bradycardia
• tachypnea
• Conjunctivitis
• Pharyngitis
• Redness or rash.

In addition to the previously mentioned symptoms, damage to the liver, kidneys, or lungs may also occur.