College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Basrah discussed a master dissertation on the sero-epidemiological evaluation and proinflammatory response to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in small ruminants in Basrah and Thi-Qar Governorates by postgraduate student, Ms. Afrah Ali Dakhel.

The dissertation aimed at detecting antibodies to the Crimean fever virus in the square of small animals and evaluating the epidemiological situation of the disease during the past forty years.

The dissertation demonstrated drawing blood samples from sheep and goats in Basrah and Thi-Qar governorates after examining them and determining that they were infected with ticks as a carrier of the virus that causes the disease, then conducting a serology test using the ELISA technique, Cytokines were also calculated to follow the progress of the disease, and the dominant type of tick that transmits the disease in the study areas was determined.

The dissertation concluded that Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is endemic in the Basrah and Thi-Qar governorates and poses a major threat to herds of sheep and goats, as well as to public health, as the disease has been recorded in animals infected with ticks, with Cases of infection in animals free of ticks, which indicates transmission of the infection through other methods, such as contamination with body fluids.