AUTHOR=Sherifi Kurtesh , Rexhepi Agim , Berxholi Kristaq , Mehmedi Blerta , Gecaj Rreze M. , Hoxha Zamira , Joachim Anja , Duscher Georg G. 

TITLE=Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ticks from Kosovo and Albania

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2018.00038

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2018.00038

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>Tick-borne diseases pose a serious threat to human health in South-Eastern Europe, including Kosovo. While Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a well-known emerging infection in this area, there are no accurate data on Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). Therefore, we sampled and tested 795 ticks. <italic>Ixodes ricinus</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 218), <italic>Dermacentor marginatus</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 98), and <italic>Haemaphysalis</italic> spp. (<italic>n</italic> = 24) were collected from the environment by flagging (all from Kosovo), while <italic>Hyalomma marginatum</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 199 from Kosovo, all from Kosovo) and <italic>Rhipicephalus bursa</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 130, 126 from Albania) could be collected only by removal from animal pasture and domestic ruminants. Ticks were collected in the years 2014/2015 and tested for viral RNA of CCHF and TBE viruses, as well as for DNA of <italic>Borrelia burgdorferi</italic> sensu lato by real-time PCR. In Kosovo, nine ticks were positive for RNA of Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and seven for DNA of <italic>B. burgdorferi</italic> s. l. None of the ticks tested positive for TBEV. CCHF virus was detected in one <italic>H. marginatum</italic> male specimen collected while feeding on grazing cattle from the Prizren region and in eight <italic>R. bursa</italic> specimens (five females and three males collected while feeding on grazing sheep and cattle) from the Prishtina region (Kosovo). <italic>B. burgdorferi</italic> s. l. was detected in seven questing ticks (four male and one female <italic>D. marginatus</italic>, two <italic>I. ricinus</italic> one female and one male) from the Mitrovica region (Kosovo). Our study confirmed that CCHF virus is circulating in Kosovo mainly in <italic>H. marginatum</italic> and <italic>R. bursa</italic> in the central areas of the country. <italic>B. burgdorferi</italic> s. l. was found in its major European host tick, <italic>I. ricinus</italic>, but also in <italic>D. marginatus</italic>, in the north of the Kosovo. In order to prevent the spread of these diseases and better control of the tick-borne infections, an improved vector surveillance and testing of ticks for the presence of pathogens needs to be established.</p>