Testing strategies to control Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever by modelling

Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a re-emerging zoonotic disease in Turkey, mainly transmitted by the tick Hyalomma marginatum. In Central Anatolia, recorded cases are mainly related to a strong agricultural decline, which has continued since the 1990s. A model coupling tick population dynamics and virus transmission has been developed and involves wild (hares) and domestic (cattle) reservoir hosts. Simulations were used to test the respective effects of the use of acaricides and a decrease in hare density. While acaricide treatments reduce the prevalence in cattle, hare density has a greater impact on the risk to humans, via a decrease in the number of infectious ticks. Acting on host density therefore seems to be an effective strategy to reduce zoonotic risk.

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Vial, L., Stachurski, F., Leblond, A., Huber, K., Vourc'h, G., Rene-Martellet, M., Desjardins, I., Balanca, G., Grosbois, V., Pradier, S., Gely, M., Appelgren, A. and Estrada-Pena, A., 2016. Strong evidence for the presence of the tick Hyalomma marginatum Koch, 1844 in southern continental France. Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, 7:1162-1167. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.08.002.