Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a severe tick-borne illness with a wide geographical distribution and case fatality rates of 30% or higher. Caused by infection with the CCHF virus (CCHFV), cases are reported throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia and southern and eastern Europe. The expanding range of the Hyalomma tick vector is placing new populations at risk for CCHF, and no licensed vaccines or specific antivirals exist to treat CCHF. Furthermore, despite cases of CCHF being reported annually, the host and viral determinants of CCHFV pathogenesis are poorly understood. CCHFV can productively infect a multitude of animal species, yet only humans develop a severe illness. Within human populations, subclinical infections are underappreciated and may represent a substantial proportion of clinical outcomes. Compared with other members of the Bunyavirales order, CCHFV has a more complex genomic organization, with many viral proteins having unclear functions in viral pathogenesis. In recent years, improved animal models have led to increased insights into CCHFV pathogenesis, and several antivirals and vaccines for CCHFV have shown robust efficacy in preclinical models. Translation of these insights and candidate therapeutics to the clinic will hopefully reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by CCHFV.

克里米亚-刚果出血热 (CCHF) 是一种严重的蜱传疾病，地理分布广泛，病死率高达 30% 或更高。由 CCHF 病毒 (CCHFV) 感染引起，非洲、中东、亚洲以及南欧和东欧均有病例报告。Hyalomma的范围不断扩大蜱虫媒介使新人群面临 CCHF 的风险，并且目前尚无获得许可的疫苗或特定抗病毒药物可用于治疗 CCHF。此外，尽管每年都有 CCHF 病例报告，但 CCHFV 发病机制的宿主和病毒决定因素仍知之甚少。CCHFV 可有效感染多种动物，但只有人类会患上严重疾病。在人群中，亚临床感染未被充分认识，并且可能代表临床结果的很大一部分。与布尼亚病毒目其他成员相比CCHFV 具有更复杂的基因组结构，许多病毒蛋白在病毒发病机制中的功能尚不清楚。近年来，动物模型的改进使人们对 CCHFV 发病机制有了更多的了解，几种 CCHFV 抗病毒药物和疫苗在临床前模型中显示出强大的功效。将这些见解和候选疗法转化为临床将有望降低 CCHFV 引起的发病率和死亡率。