SURVEY OF CRIMEAN-CONGO HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER VIRUS IN RHIPICEPHALUS AND DERMACENTOR SPECIES TICKS FROM SOUTH-EASTERN ROMANIA

Few previous studies suggested the circulation of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in Romania, but were based on serological techniques. The present work investigated the presence of CC H FV in Rhipicephalus sp. and Dermacentorsp. 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 in Dermacentorsp. 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 will indicate if CCHFV circulates in Romania.