Two cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) were confirmed last July in two men with residence in the Leonese region of El Bierzo, according to a report published on the website of the Ministry of Health and prepared by the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies.
According to the report, the first diagnostic case was that of a hunter, 49 years oldwith a history of tick bites of the Hyalomma variety, which transmits the disease, who began to feel symptoms on July 12 and who is currently in a stable condition after being admitted to a hospital in the Basque Country.
The second case and that has now been released, belongs to another 51-year-old man, who was retrospectively diagnosed on July 20, after having died on June 19 of an unknown cause with suspected poisoning by sulfur compounds.
After his death and after carrying out different tests, it was determined that he had died of hemorrhagic fevers of Crimea-Congo.
The CCHF virus is mainly transmitted by ticks of the genus Hyalomma and can also cause person-to-person transmission through contact with the blood or secretions of a sick person.
The report from the Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies also indicates that studies in ticks and wild and domestic animals to know the extension of the circulation, having been detected in extensive areas of Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, and Andalusia.
In addition, they have recently been detected in animal serology studies carried out in Galicia and in Catalonia.
In Spain until 2021 only 10 cases had been detected
The province of León and in particular the Bierzo region was considered low risk, given the low presence of Hyalomma and the low prevalence of antibodies against the virus in wild and domestic animals in the serological studies carried out, in which it was around 1-2%.
In Spain until 2021 only 10 cases had been detected and the detection of these two new ones grouped over time and in a specific geographic area considered low risk, where another case had also been detected in 2021, justifies the rapid risk assessment carried out by the Coordination Center Alerts and Health Emergencies.
On the other hand, the Center has requested to intensify public health measures in the areas with presence of the virusespecially in the area where cases have been recently detected, emphasizing the recommendations to the population for the prevention and management of tick bites, active and passive surveillance of cases, and entomological study and study of virus circulation in animals and humans.