The Spatial Distribution of Crimean–Congo Haemorrhagic Fever and Its Potential Vectors in Europe and Beyond

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is an emerging disease that is spreading across the globe. We originally released a predictive map in 2015, which we now update and improve by extending its coverage to Europe and by incorporating the limiting distributions of its main confirmed or potential tick vectors in Europe: Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma lusitanicum. Our new models suggest that the disease risk is now predicted to cover substantial parts of southern and central Europe. These maps can be used to more effectively target surveillance and monitoring. ABSTRACT: Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is considered to be spreading across the globe, with many countries reporting new human CCHF cases in recent decades including Georgia, Türkiye, Albania, and, most recently, Spain. We update a human CCHF distribution map produced in 2015 to include global disease occurrence records to June 2022, and we include the recent records for Europe. The predicted distributions are based on long-established spatial modelling methods and are extended to include all European countries and the surrounding areas. The map produced shows the environmental suitability for the disease, taking into account the distribution of the most important known and potential tick vectors Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma lusitanicum, without which the disease cannot occur. This limits the disease’s predicted distribution to the Iberian Peninsula, the Mediterranean seaboard, along with Türkiye and the Caucasus, with a more patchy suitability predicted for inland Greece, the southern Balkans, and extending north to north-west France and central Europe. These updated CCHF maps can be used to identify the areas with the highest probability of disease and to therefore target areas where mitigation measures should currently be focused.