Woman dies of haemorrhagic Congo fever in Oman

[Ronan Kelly]

Woman dies of haemorrhagic Congo fever in Oman
An expatriate woman has died of haemorrhagic Congo fever at Al Buraimi Hospital, according to an official at the Ministry of Health
Staff ReportPublished: 13:30 January 21, 2012

Muscat: An expatriate woman has died of haemorrhagic Congo fever at Al Buraimi Hospital, according to an official at the Ministry of Health.
The Oman News Agency, quoting an unnamed ministry official, reported that the woman was admitted to government hospital in Buraimi last Wednesday.
?All necessary procedures were followed in such cases of communicable diseases, but the woman died in the midnight due to her late arrival at the hospital,? the health ministry official said.

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http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/woman-dies-of-haemorrhagic-congo-fever-in-oman-1.968898

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Woman dies of haemorrhagic Congo fever in Oman

Suspected Congo fever claims one in Buraimi

FAHAD AL MUKRASHI & REJIMON K
21 January 2012 09:05:28 Oman Time

MUSCAT: The spread of a tick-borne viral disease is ?creating panic? in a Buraimi hospital after an expatriate with the symptoms of the viral infection died in the intensive care unit of the hospital in the wee hours of Thursday.

A Bangladeshi man died due to Crimean?Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), an infectious disease in animals that can be transmitted to people, after a multiple organ failure, according to medics.

?The patient was brought to the hospital last Tuesday. He had high fever and nasal bleeding. After lab tests, it was confirmed that the patient was infected by the tick-borne viral disease called Congo fever. Within 48 hours, his condition worsened. He suffered from multiple organ failure. He died in the wee hours of Thursday,? a medic in the hospital told Times of Oman.

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Precautionary measures
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Following the unconfirmed reports that the expatriate was infected after consuming meat, there are reports that the authorities had issued a circular to all restaurants and Buraimi residents to avoid consuming meat bought seven days ago.

Moreover, there also reports that three restaurants have been shut down as part of the precautionary measures.

More patients
There were also unconfirmed reports that two more patients are undergoing treatment for the same infection.

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http://www.timesofoman.com/echoice.asp?detail=53823

[Shiloh]

Re: Woman dies of haemorrhagic Congo fever in Oman

Source: http://main.omanobserver.om/node/80325

No risk of viral CCHF fever spread
Sun, 22 January 2012

By Conrad Prabhu - MUSCAT ? Health officials have discounted the possibility of a wider outbreak of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) that claimed the life of an Asian expatriate in Buraimi at the weekend. Still, authorities are taking no chances and have put in place emergency preparedness procedures to combat and contain any potential spread of the deadly haemorrhagic fever, it is learnt.

As part of the measures in place, around 15 people ? including fellow workers and roommates of the deceased ? were given preventive prophylaxis as a safeguard against possible exposure to CCHF. Further, healthcare workers at Buraimi Hospital who handled the patient over the weekend were administered similar prophylaxis treatment. So too were a number of lab staff who handled infected samples from the patient...

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Woman dies of haemorrhagic Congo fever in Oman

Smuggled livestock could have caused Congo Fever in Buraimi
Smuggled livestock could have caused Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) to a Bangladeshi expatriate, who died last week in Buraimi, according to reliable sources
By Sunil K. Vaidya, Bureau Chief
Published: 15:44 January 22, 2012

Muscat: Smuggled livestock could have caused Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) to a Bangladeshi expatriate, who died last week in Buraimi, according to reliable sources.
Sources at the Buraimi Hospital said the death of an illegal Pakistani resident, who was involved in handling livestock, could also have been caused by CCHF two week ago.
? There is a thriving trade of illegally imported livestock as it comes much cheaper than the livestock imported with proper certification from the authorities ?
Anonymous source
The unclaimed body of the Pakistani was still lying in the Buraimi hospital morgue but no investigation was carried out to determine his death although his symptoms were similar to CCHF.

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Restaurant cook died

Haemhorragic Congo fever fatality in Oman
The middle-aged Bangladeshi who died last week was not a woman as reported earlier. He was a cook working with a restaurant in Buraimi. The health authorities are confused about how the restaurant employee contracted the infection when he had no direct contact with the livestock.
However, a source believes that the Bangladeshi could be working part time in loading/unloading of smuggled livestock and could have contracted infection while handling the ?illegal cargo'.
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http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/smuggled-livestock-could-have-caused-congo-fever-in-buraimi-1.969371