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Omsk hemorrhagic fever
virus (OHFV),
is
the only known tick-borne flavivirus to cause hemorrhagic disease in
humans in the absence of encephalitis.
Omsk hemorrhagic fever (OHF)
resembles Crimean fever and was first described in the Asiatic USSR
(1947).
Endemic to the forested steppe-lake
region of western Siberia, its animal reservoir is principally
rodents.
Infections in humans come from the
bites of infected ticks or from contact with muskrats killed by
hunters, in which case the muskrats were bitten by ticks infested with
the virus from small rodents.
OHFV can be
transmitted through the milk of infected goats or sheep and isolated
from aquatic animals and water.
Symptoms of
OHF includes fever, headache, severe muscle pain, cough, dehydration,
gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems.
After
1-2 weeks of symptoms, some patients recover without complication. In
most patients in the beginning of the third week the symptoms include
fever and signs of encephalitis.
The diagnosis
is made by virus isolation from blood or by serologic testing using
enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay (ELISA).
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