ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A woman from Kirkuk on Thursday tested positive for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), marking Iraq’s first recorded case of the disease this year, according to a health official.
“The test results of the Kirkuk woman were returned from the central laboratory in Baghdad and confirmed that she has contracted hemorrhagic fever,” Arjan Mohammed Rashid, head of Kirkuk’s Health Department, told Rudaw, adding that “this is the first case of hemorrhagic fever recorded this year.”
CCHF is a zoonotic viral disease transmitted between animals and humans, primarily through infected ticks. Domestic and wild animals can carry the virus and pass it to humans. Iraq has experienced repeated outbreaks of the disease since it was first recorded in the country in 1979.
The Kurdish woman, a resident of Chiman village, is currently under medical supervision at a hospital in Kirkuk.
The case marks a sharp decline compared with the same period last year, when Iraq recorded 53 confirmed infections and seven deaths in the first months of the year, prompting extensive preventive measures to contain the virus.
“The patient’s condition is unstable,” a source from Kirkuk’s health department told Rudaw, adding that she is “experiencing bodily bleeding.”
As a precaution, health teams have conducted tests on the woman’s family members and close contacts, with results still pending.
According to Iraq’s health ministry, the country recorded more than 230 confirmed CCHF cases in 2025.
The highly infectious virus can spread through multiple routes, including bites from infected ticks, contact with the blood or tissues of infected animals, exposure to bodily fluids of infected people, and the consumption of raw or undercooked meat from infected livestock.
While some patients experience mild symptoms, CCHF is often fatal. Severe cases can lead to internal bleeding, coma, and multi-organ failure affecting the liver, kidneys, and respiratory system. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the disease’s fatality rate can reach up to 40 percent.