Congo virus death toll put at eight this year

Isolation ward set up at Fatima Jinnah Hospital in Quetta

QUETTA: Three people, including a woman suffering from the dreaded Congo virus, have been admitted to the isolation ward of Fatima Jinnah Hospital, health authorities said on Saturday.

So far, eight people have lost their lives in Balochistan due to the highly contagious disease caused by ticks carried by domestic cattle. The Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has a mortality rate of 10-40%.



Invasion from Afghanistan

The Congo virus infection is coming from Afghanistan, health officials confirmed.

Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital and TB Sanatorium Medical Superintendent Dr Mukhtar said that a total of 84 suspected cases of Congo virus were reported in Balochistan this year of which 62 patients were from Afghanistan.

While most of the patients survived, 22 reached the critical stage where the virus has incubated and the symptoms of haemorrhage, vomiting and liver and kidney failure start to appear.

“After Polymerase Chain Reaction (PRC) in Aga Khan Hospital Karachi, 22 cases returned positive of which eight people have lost their lives while fighting the fatal Congo virus,” Dr Mukhtar said.



Preventive measures

The Livestock Department in Balochistan has started a campaign to spray anti-ticks fluid on animals in the cattle markets to check the spread of Congo virus.

However, a lot needs to be done. “The people from livestock department came just once to the cattle market, but nothing has been done to protect our animals from the ticks thought to be spreading the Congo virus,” said Muhamad Ismail, a cattle trader.

Dr Mukhtar said that people should should wear light coloured stuff while visiting the cattle market, he said.

Experts insist on light coloured clothing so that any tick that jumps from the cattle on people is visible before it delivers the virus in the veins.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.