Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viral RNA-free hard ticks infesting livestock in a rural region of southern Iran.

Tick-borne viral diseases, including Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), are often fatal infectious diseases if left untreated. They impose a significant burden of morbidity on human health. Given the history of this disease in Fars province, Iran, and the CDC report on a recent fatal case in a remote county, and since the infectivity of ticks in this area has so far been neglected, this study was undertaken to investigate the above issue. Ticks were collected from seven stations. Morphological identification was conducted using valid taxonomic keys. Molecular tests were implemented on them. From a total 361 collected hard ticks, four species across two genera of Hyalomma (71%) and Rhipicephalus (29%) were identified. Significant differences in the frequency of Hyalomma genus with different vertebrate hosts in this area were outlined. The implementation of RT-PCR test on all samples was negative, and the expected band was observed in none of them. To ensure the correctitude of infection test negativity, nested-PCR was performed on all RT-PCR products using the right primers. All samples exhibited no trace of infection with CCHFV genomic remnants too.