Two more cases of Congo virus surface, raising the number to six

One patient is in critical condition.

KARACHI:

Two more persons were diagnosed positive for the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus on Saturday taking the total number of cases to six.

"The patient, Z*, 19, used to work in a plastic bag manufacturing company and temporarily worked as a butcher during the Eidul Azha season," said Dr Seemin Jamali, the joint executive director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and incharge of its accidents and emergency ward. "Similarly, another patient, S*, 25, was also a daily wage earner at a local factory."

Jamali further said that when the patient's families admitted them to the JPMC, their reports were sent by the hospital to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) where they were diagnosed positive for the virus. "The boys were brought to the hospital in a critical condition," she said. "They were passing blood in their urine and vomits."

She told The Express Tribune that the two patients are being monitored in the isolation ward. She added that one of the patients was still in a critical condition.

What is alarming for the city's healthcare facilitators is that both patients lived in the same area in Korangi. While it may be believed that Z acquired the virus due to contact with infected animals, S had no connections with slaughtering animals, said Jamali. "Maybe S was infected during his visit to the cattle markets," she suggested. During the fourth week of August, 24-year old Muhammad Kashif, the city's first Congo virus case of the year, died at a private hospital. Kashif was a resident of Gulberg, Federal B Area, and a butcher by profession.

*Names withheld on hospital's request

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2014.