A patient of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) passed away at a Peshawar hospital on Saturday as cases of the deadly disease continue to pile up, local media reports said on Sunday.
According to media reports, three patients suffering from Congo fever were brought to Peshawar’s Hayatabad Medical Complex on Friday. They were identified as 57-year-old Ali Khan from Peshawar, and Abdul Hameed and Shukria, a female patient, from Afghanistan. Hameed died the next day.
As per the hospital data, 11 Congo virus patients, including six from Afghanistan and one staffer, have been brought to HMC. Of these 11, five have died.
Transmission modes
According to the World Health Organization, CCHF is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock. Humans can catch the virus from other humans if they come in close contact with the infected person’s blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids.
A study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology in July 2012 states, “Vector-borne diseases (such as Congo or dengue fever) in people, as well as livestock, are common in K-P and Fata due to the limited use of vector control measures and access to livestock vaccines.”
“CCHF outbreaks typically occur following the migrations of nomadic people and livestock to district centres where they bring animals to sell and slaughter,” the study adds.