A case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Greece, June 2008

A 46-year-old woman with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) died in a hospital in Alexandroupoli, in north-eastern Greece, in the end of June 2008. The woman was admitted to the hospital four days earlier, with fever, malaise, myalgia, chills and abdominal pain. One day before death, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she developed heavy hemorrhage from the genital tract, DIC and multi-organ failure. The patient reported a tick bite four days before admission, and that she had tried to remove the tick herself. No travel abroad was reported. She was engaged in agricultural activities in a rural area near the town of Komotini, in Rhodope prefecture, south of the Greek-Bulgarian border.