Affiliations 

  • 1 Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
  • 3 Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: keivan@um.edu.my
Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 2014 Sep;5(5):457-65.
PMID: 24907187 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2014.04.001

Abstract

Several important human diseases worldwide are caused by tick-borne viruses. These diseases have become important public health concerns in recent years. The tick-borne viruses that cause diseases in humans mainly belong to 3 families: Bunyaviridae, Flaviviridae, and Reoviridae. In this review, we focus on therapeutic approaches for several of the more important tick-borne viruses from these 3 families. These viruses are Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHF) and the newly discovered tick-borne phleboviruses, known as thrombocytopenia syndromevirus (SFTSV), Heartland virus and Bhanja virus from the family Bunyaviridae, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Powassan virus (POWV), Louping-ill virus (LIV), Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus (OHFV), Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV), and Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) from the Flaviviridae family. To date, there is no effective antiviral drug available against most of these tick-borne viruses. Although there is common usage of antiviral drugs such as ribavirin for CCHF treatment in some countries, there are concerns that ribavirin may not be as effective as once thought against CCHF. Herein, we discuss also the availability of vaccines for the control of these viral infections. The lack of treatment and prevention approaches for these viruses is highlighted, and we hope that this review may increase public health awareness with regard to the threat posed by this group of viruses.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.