Development of targeted whole genome sequencing approaches for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV)

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is the most prevalent human tick-borne viral disease, with a reported case fatality rate of 30 % or higher. The virus contains a tri-segmented, negative-sense RNA genome consisting of the small (S), medium (M) and large (L) segments encoding respectively the nucleoprotein (NP), the glycoproteins precursor (GPC) and the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP). CCHFV is one of the most genetically diverse arboviruses, with seven distinct lineages named after the region they were first reported in and based on S segment phylogenetic analysis.

Due to the high genetic divergence of the virus, a single targeted tiling PCR strategy to enrich for viral nucleic acids prior to sequencing is difficult to develop, and previously we have developed and validated a tiling PCR enrichment method for the Europe 1 genetic lineage.

We have developed a targeted, probe hybridisation capture method and validated its performance on clinical as well as cell-cultured material of CCHFV from different genetic lineages, including Europe 1, Europe 2, Africa 2 and Africa 3. The method produced over 95 % reference coverages with at least 10x sequencing depth. While we were only able to recover a single complete genome sequence from the tested Europe 1 clinical samples with the capture hybridisation protocol, the data provides evidence of its applicability to different CCHFV genetic lineages.

CCHFV is an important tick-borne human pathogen with wide geographical distribution. Environmental as well as anthropogenic factors are causing increased CCHFV transmission. Development of strategies to recover CCHFV sequences from genetically diverse lineages of the virus is of paramount importance to monitor the presence of the virus in new areas, and in public health responses for CCHFV molecular surveillance to rapidly detect, diagnose and characterise currently circulating strains.