After second Congo death, Sindh, Punjab authorities swing into action

Bahawalpur doctor dies weeks after operating on infected nurse, two others in hospital

BAHAWALPUR/ KARACHI: Nearly a week after he operated on a nurse suffering from Congo fever in Bahawalpur, Dr Saghir Ahmed Sameeja lost his life to the deadly virus in Karachi on Saturday.

Dr Sameeja, 30, was among the three doctors brought to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) on Tuesday after showing signs of the deadly Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.



On July 16, Dr Sameeja and his team members, Dr Alam and Dr Owais, operated on Nadia, a student nurse from Lodhran's district headquarters hospital at Bahawalpur's Victoria Hospital. She was suffering severe abdominal pain and died during treatment. Two days after her surgery, the three doctors showed symptoms of haemorrhagic fever.

"The nurse was infected with the Congo virus and, during surgery, some blood drops fell on the doctors operating on her," a family member of Dr Sameeja, Hadia Khalil, told The Express Tribune. Initially when he was still in Bahawalpur, Dr Sameeja was treated for dengue fever. "When he showed no signs of recovery, his blood samples were sent to Lahore," she said, adding that his condition worsened before the test results could come and he was referred to AKUH in Karachi.

The doctors gauged that he was infected with Congo virus and immediately put him in quarantine, said Khalil, adding that his condition continued to worsen until he was put on the ventilator for two days until he died.

The hospital administration ensured that no family member was allowed to go inside the room. “We were only allowed to see him from outside through a glass window."



Dr Sameeja's body has been moved to Bahawalpur. "We received the body wrapped in a bag," said Edhi morgue in-charge Ghulam Khan. "We didn't give ghusl [bath] as that could have spread the disease," he said, adding that they packed the body directly in a wooden coffin.

Precautions in Bahawalpur

Meanwhile, the Bahawalpur hospital has conducted tests of nearly 102 doctors who have come into contact with Dr Sameeja, said Victoria Hospital medical superintendent Shahid Faraz.

Sindh govt swings into action

Sindh health secretary Ahmed Bux Narejo has called a meeting on the Congo fever on Monday, said Dr Zafar Mehdi, the spokesperson of a focal group for the control of Congo virus. Such cases often emerge during Eidul Azha as animals are transported across the country, he said. "We advise people to maintain distance from sacrificial animals.”

Investigations by Punjab govt

Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister's special team, led by Dr Attaur Rehman and Dr Fawad, has gone to Bahawalpur. These experts have been working on the virus for years, said Faraz, adding that AKU's laboratory in Bahawalpur has started testing for the Congo virus.

There are suspicions that goats brought from Dera Ghazi Khan may be carrying the Congo virus, feared Lodharan hospital's medical officer Dr Noor Muhammad Sagoo.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.