Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is an emerging tick-born zoonotic disease in India which is caused by Nairovirus of Bunyaviridae family. CCHF is reported from about 30 countries of the world. An outbreak of CCHF has been reported two years back in Gujarat which killed four people including two physicians, one nurse and a rural housewife. Tick bite, contact with infected material and nosocomial routes are the main routes of infection. This disease is not much important in animals as animals are asymptomatic but domestic livestock play a vital role in the transmission of disease to humans. So the persons associated with animals like veterinarians, farmers and slaughter house workers are also at the high risk of getting the infection. The disease has a great public health importance. Rapid diagnosis of disease is very important. The advent of molecular techniques including real-time PCR allow the rapid diagnosis of CCHF. There are limited treatment options for CCHF. Ribavirin is the only known drug which is effective against CCHF.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an emerging zoonotic disease in India and requires immediate detection of infection both for preventing further transmission and for controlling the infection. The present study describes development, optimization, and evaluation of a novel molecular beacon-based real-time RT-PCR assay for rapid, sensitive, and specific diagnosis of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). The developed assay was found to be a better alternative to the reported TaqMan assay for routine diagnosis of CCHF.

We report the complete genome sequence of an Indian field isolate of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) belonging to predominant subgenotype 1.1 prevalent in India. This report will help in understanding the molecular diversity of CSFV strains circulating worldwide and to select and develop a suitable vaccine candidate for classical swine fever (CSF) control in India.

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