Alkhurma haemorrhagic fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease reported mainly in Saudi Arabia. The virus was isolated in 1994 from the blood of a butcher with a severe illness in Jeddah. This patient became sick after he slaughtered a sheep imported from the city of Alkhurma, Makkah province. Since 1994, about 40 human cases have been confirmed according to published reports.

The aetiological agent is a Flavivirus genetically belonging to the tickborne group that is very closely related to Kyasanur forest disease virus, a severe tick-borne hemorrhagic disease reported in India (Karnataka state). Read more in the Factsheet for the professionals