ABSTRACT
Omsk hemorrhagic fever (OHF) is an acute viral disease exhibiting moderately severe hemorrhagic manifestations. The disease was rst reported in 1941, 1943, and 1944 when physicians in the northern-lake steppe and forest-steppe area of Omsk Region, Russia, recorded sporadic cases of acute febrile disease with abundant hemorrhages from the nose, mouth, and uterus, hemorrhagic rash, hemorrhages in the skin, and leukopenia [1]. The disease was initially misdiagnosed as a typhoid form of tularemia, typhus, paratyphus, or alimentary-toxic aleukia. However, soon it became clear that this was a new, previously unknown disease. The illness occurred predominantly in muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) hunters and their family members, who participated in muskrat skinning and preparing skins [1].
