Research and product development for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: priorities for 2024-30

Abstract

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a widely distributed and potentially fatal tick-borne viral disease with no licensed specific treatments or vaccines. In 2019, WHO published an advanced draft of a research and development roadmap for CCHF that prioritised the development and deployment of the medical countermeasures most needed by CCHF-affected countries. This Personal View presents updated CCHF research and development priorities and is the product of broad consultation with a working group of 20 leading experts in 2023-24. The strategic goals, milestones, and timelines have been revised and expanded to reflect scientific advances since 2019, including the identification of antibodies with therapeutic potential and the progression of four vaccine candidates through phase 1 clinical trials. This update emphasises the need for a One Health approach to manage CCHF, from integrated cross-sectoral surveillance to novel interventions that target ticks and their vertebrate hosts to reduce CCHF virus transmission to humans. The overarching vision for rapid diagnostics and specific therapeutics by 2028, followed by options to limit CCHF virus transmission and control disease by 2030, is deliberately ambitious and will only be achieved through coordinated international action from affected countries, funders, scientists, product developers, manufacturers, regulators, national authorities, and policy makers.