En October 2023, health authorities announced the detection of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHF), an Ebola-like condition. The pathogen was hosted by “Hyalomma marginatum” ticks, which are gradually establishing themselves in the south of France under the effect of climate change.
They were collected from cows and horses in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It was researchers from the team of Laurence Vial, epidemiologist at the Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development in Montpellier (Hérault), who made this discovery.
How do ticks and humans contaminate each other?
“Hyalomma” are the natural reservoir of the virus. Each spring, when they resume their activity, they put it back into circulation by gorging themselves with the blood of their hosts, who thus risk becoming infected and reinfecting new ticks. Adult ticks can be contaminated on ungulates, including cattle, excellent replicators of the virus. They can then transmit the pathogen directly to their offspring (eggs, larvae, nymphs). Larvae and nymphs also sometimes become infected by feeding on the blood of rabbits and hares, which replicate the virus well. If “Hyalomma” prefers to feed on cattle, it cannot be ruled out that it bites humans. When infected, this tick transmits the virus very quickly.
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