Black Sea Plague-Control Station, Novorossiisk, Russia
The results of the epizootological survey of the Krasnodar Territory and the study of the blood sera of patients with the diagnosis of hemorrhagic fever of unclear etiology are presented. As assumed in this investigation, the natural foci of Crimean hemorrhagic fever (CHF) may be situated in the plain steppe, foothill and mountain forest landscape zones. Ticks of the species Dermacentor marginatus and Ixodes ricinus were determined as reservoirs and vectors of CHF virus. The absence of CHF morbidity is seemingly indicative of a moderate epidemic potential of natural foci, and the vectors of the virus may be small rodents: common and European voles, wood, field and house mice.
Zh. Mikrobiol. (Moscow), 2005, No. 4, Supplement, P. 48—51