Abdullah Al-Salawaty, and Mrs. institutes. Conclusions AHFV has been well characterized; nevertheless, some aspects remain to be elucidated. Introduction A new computer virus causing hemorrhagic fever was reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in 1995 [1]. A novel flavivirus was isolated and identified as the cause of this contamination [1, 2]. The computer virus was named Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever computer virus (AHFV) after the Alkhumra district in Jeddah, where the first cases of contamination with this computer virus were explained [3]. From 2001 to 2003, 20 confirmed cases of AHFV contamination were reported in Makkah, 75 km from its origin [3]. From 2003 to 2007, eight sporadic cases of AHFV contamination were confirmed in the Najran region in southwestern KSA, bordering Yemen [4], followed by an outbreak in this region with 70 cases confirmed from 2008 to 2009 [4]. Subsequently, sporadic cases continued to be reported in Jeddah, Makkah, and Najran as well as in new southwestern regions, namely, Taif, Alqunfuda, and Jazan [5, 6]. Table ?Table11 summarizes all AHFV cases reported in the KSA in the period 1995C2017. Table 1 Confirmed cases of Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever computer virus contamination in Saudi Vitamin CK3 Arabia (1995C2017) Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia Since 2010, evidence has been accumulating that this computer virus in fact exists beyond its initial boundaries. In 2010 2010, two Italian patients were confirmed to be infected with AHFV after travelling to southern Egypt [7]. Two more confirmed cases including visitors coming from Egypt were also reported in Italy [8, 9]. In addition, results of a serosurveillance study of AHFV antibodies in humans in Djibouti [10] confirmed the presence of AHFV-neutralizing antibodies in the serum of a 13-year-old female child who lived near a slaughterhouse. Two years later, Horton of the family [12C14]. AHFV is usually most closely related to Kyasanur Forest disease computer virus (KFDV). Table ?Table22 shows a comparison of the characteristics of AHFV and KFDV. In many scientific publications, Alkhumra computer virus was mistakenly named Alkhurma computer virus as a result of a typographical error in earlier publications [15]. The incorrect name, ‘Alkhurma’, is actually a small city 280 kilometers from Alkhumra district in Jeddah, and it is not associated with this Vitamin CK3 computer virus in any way. The name was corrected by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in 2011, and the name Alkhumra was approved as the correct name of the computer virus [14]. However, some authors continue to use the wrong name, ‘Alkhurma’, in their publications. Table 2 Characteristics of Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever computer virus (AHFV) and Kyasanur Forest disease computer virus (KFDV) and ticks) Mosquito bites? Tick bites (ticks) Contact with monkeys EcosystemUrban and ruralForestGeographic distributionSouthwestern Saudi Arabia, Southern Egypt, and possibly other African countriesEndemic to South India; first reported from?the Kyasanur Forest?of?Karnataka?in?IndiaIncubation period (days)Unknown (2C4?)2C8Case fatality rate? 1C 25%3C10%DiagnosisMolecular detection by PCR and sequencing Computer virus isolation ATN1 Serological identification: serum neutralization test, and ELISA Molecular detection by PCR and sequencing Computer virus isolation Serological identification: serum neutralization test, and ELISA Laboratory biosafety level3C43C4TreatmentNo specific treatment Supportive care No specific treatment Supportive care PreventionNo vaccine is usually available Avoidance of direct contact with live animals or their byproducts without personal protective equipment Use of mosquito repellants Avoidance of contact with ticks, where the disease is usually endemic A vaccine is used in endemic areas of India Control of ticks Wearing protective clothes where ticks are endemic Vitamin CK3 and avoidance of contact with monkeys Open in a separate windows enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay Studies on AHFV characteristics Molecular characteristics Several studies have been conducted to study the molecular characteristics of AHFV isolates. Charrel tick, sand tampan (tick JE7), collected from southeast of Jeddah, KSA. The sequence analysis results revealed 99.7% nucleotide sequence identity to AHFV strain 1176 (GenBank accession no. “type”:”entrez-nucleotide”,”attrs”:”text”:”AF331718″,”term_id”:”15808385″,”term_text”:”AF331718″AF331718) in the homologous region of the envelope gene..