Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus in Eastern Portugal; Evidence from Cattle and Red Deer

Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus in Eastern Portugal; Evidence from Cattle and Red Deer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus in Eastern Portugal; Evidence from Cattle and Red Deer Fábio Abade dos Santos, Margarida D. Duarte, António Caçote, António Lourenço, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6405356/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Following the death of an 83-year-old man from the district of Bragança, in north-eastern Portugal due to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a serological survey was conducted to investigate domestic and wild ruminants. The survey included samples from cattle(n=94), sheep(n=30), goats(n=4), and red deer(n=10) collected within the affected region and neighbouring areas where the human case was reported. CCHF antibodies were detected in the serum of sheep, cattle and red deer, corresponding to seropositivity rates of 3.33%, 38.29%, and 60%, respectively, indicating significant exposure to the virus. Indirect immunofluorescence assays further validated the ELISA results. Most of the positive cattle originate from farms located in the Guarda district, which are located close to the Spanish border. None of the goats was positive for CCHFV-antibodies and viral-RNA was not detected in any of the samples. CCHFV-RNA was also not detected in 15 ticks from Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus genera collected from vegetation or cattle, on one of the positive farms. Our findings suggest that CCHFV is actively circulating in eastern Portugal. Reports of human cases of CCHF in Spain, particularly near the border with Portugal, are consistent with the detection of CCHFV-RNA in ticks feeding on domestic and wild animals in western Spain, highlighting the potential for cross-border transmission and suggesting an established circulation of CCHFV in the Iberian Peninsula. Biological sciences/Immunology/Infection Biological sciences/Immunology/Infectious diseases Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever CCHFV cattle red deer ticks seropositivity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryTable18April2025.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 18 Apr, 2025 Editor invited by journal 18 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 08 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6405356","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":445465773,"identity":"603fcf10-0439-445b-a148-9a542d253c1c","order_by":0,"name":"Fábio Abade dos Santos","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"1.\tNational Institute of Agricultural and Veterinary Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fábio","middleName":"Abade dos","lastName":"Santos","suffix":""},{"id":445465776,"identity":"c12f5a0e-6105-4759-b146-9109dd05bd6d","order_by":1,"name":"Margarida D. 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