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In one 24-hour period, three people have died in Turkey from tick bites.  Apparently, these people self-removed argasid or ixodid ticks that were infected with a disease known as CCHF, or Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.  This is based on proMED reports from the region.

According to the WHO, the viral disease CCHF was first discovered in 1944 in the Crimean Peninsula and named appropriately.  But in 1956, it was found that the source of the virus was a germ traced back to the Congo, which as we all know is a hotbed of one sort of hemorrhagic fever or another.  So the virus was renamed Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever.

From outbreaks in 2001 and 2003 in Mauritania and Kosovo to 2006's outbreaks in Turkey, the disease continues to expand its footprint.  Anyway, because of warmer-than-usual temperatures in the region that includes the border between Turkey and Greece, there have been many recent cases of CCHF. 

Here are the symptoms, according to the CDC:

The onset of CCHF is sudden, with initial signs and symptoms including headache, high fever, back pain, joint pain, stomach pain, and vomiting. Red eyes, a flushed face, a red throat, and petechiae (red spots) on the palate are common. Symptoms may also include jaundice, and in severe cases, changes in mood and sensory perception. As the illness progresses, large areas of severe bruising, severe nosebleeds, and uncontrolled bleeding at injection sites can be seen, beginning on about the fourth day of illness and lasting for about two weeks. 

In documented outbreaks of CCHF, fatality rates in hospitalized patients have ranged from 9% to as high as 50%.

Nasty stuff.  While currently limited to remote areas along the border between the two nations, a total of 2 cases with one fatality are currently reported in Greece, and more than 550 cases are currently reported in Turkey, with 37 deaths, including the three from Monday.

This serves as a stark reminder that while H5N1 has apparently gone underground from the moment, there are more than enough emerging diseases to keep surveillance crews busy.

And in our globalized world, a disease with a slow incubation period (such as CCHF, where it can stretch from one to nine days, according to the WHO) can mean trouble anywhere.