HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - TAJIKISTAN

Date: 9 Aug 2009
From: Wolfgang Preiser
Stellenbosch University and NHLS Tygerberg, South Africa


Hemorrhagic fever - Tajikistan: RFI 20090808.2809, Correction
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Professor Wolfgang Preiser of the Division of Medical Virology,
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch
University and NHLS Tygerberg, South Africa, has drawn attention to
some errors in the moderator's comment appended to the ProMED-mail
post titled "Hemorrhagic fever - Tajikistan: RFI." Here is a
corrected and amplified version of the Mod comment:

[The Republic of Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in
Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the
west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the
east. The Tursunzoda District and the city of Dushanbe can be located
using the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Tajikistan at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/00Fa>.

The report does not identify the etiologic agent. Of the hemorrhagic
fevers listed in the report, the most likely agents responsible for
hemorrhagic fever in this part of the world are one of the
rodent/aerosol-transmitted hantaviruses belonging to the family
_Bunyaviridae_, which are responsible for hemorrhagic fever with
renal syndrome (HFRS), or the tick-transmitted Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus. CCHF virus is a member of the genus
_Nairovirus_ of the family _Bunyaviridae_.

The high case-fatality ratio and the probable occurrence of
nosocomial transmission favour a diagnosis of Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever. A single fatal case of CCHF virus infection was
recorded in Khatlon region of Tajikistan in 2000. Further information
is requested. - Mod.CP]