_|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

[Giuseppe]

Tick-borne disease claims more lives
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Three more people died Monday from Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), raising the death toll to five in the last week.

Two people in the Samsun province died from CCHF and another four with similar symptoms have been in medical care since then. Osman Şimşek, 57, bitten by a tick three weeks ago, died at the Ankara Education and Research Hospital.

His family said they had taken him to a hospital a few days after the tick bite, which occurred in the garden of their home located in the village of Kire?ocağı in the ?orum province.

Six children in central Anatolian city of Sivas were taken under observation on suspicion of CCHF.

People should be aware of the tick bite cases and should never try to take out the ticks that have stuck in their skin, said Davut Vecdi Ers?z, medical superintendent of the Sivas State Hospital.

The Health Ministry also issued a statement to warn people against tick bite cases. In case of a tick bite the skin should be covered skin with the proper medicine. The tick should be removed using tweezers with great care and iodine should be applied to the bite. Health Ministry officials said ticks should never be killed by hand.

Moreover, those people, touched by any tick, should be kept under medical treatment for of 10 days, and go to the nearest hospital if they have symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, officials from the Health Ministry said.

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever mainly affects animals. Ticks, which live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus to people.

It is an Ebola-like fever where patients can bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.

Health authorities said a warmer climate, which Turkey has experienced in recent years, could mean a larger tick population that could in turn infect more people with the disease.
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http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=103801
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[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Tick panic in Istanbul

Tuesday, May 20, 2008


More than a hundred people were rushed to hospitals in Istanbul after finding ticks on their skin over the weekend.

In the last month, seven have died around the country from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which passes through tick bites.

Over a hundred adults and around 60 children came to the Haseki Training and Research Hospital where the ticks were removed.

The patients were told to return if they suffered from bleeding, high fever, muscle pain and vomiting.

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever mainly strikes farm and slaughterhouse workers in the countryside in the central Anatolia and Black Sea regions.

Local media said ticks carrying the virus are multiplying faster than usual due to global warming and high temperatures.

The disease normally occurs through bites of infected ticks or from direct contact with infected blood and tissue from livestock. Human to human transmission, through exposure to contaminated blood, is more rare.

There is no vaccine against the disease. A body rash and bleeding from the bowels and gums, often accompanied by hepatitis and pulmonary failure, follow in severe cases.

The mortality rate can reach 30 percent from the disease, which was first identified in Crimea in 1944 and later appeared in Congo.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=104898

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Tick bite disease scare floods hospitals


Published: May 20, 2008

ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 20 (UPI) -- Istanbul, Turkey, hospital workers said hundreds of the city's residents have flocked to hospitals after a Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever scare.

Hospitals including Haseki, Okmeydani and Haydarpasa Numune said more than 500 residents sought treatment during the weekend for tick bites after a woman died of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever that was thought to have been transmitted by a tick bite in the town of Sivas, Today's Zaman reported Tuesday.

Doctors said they performed tests on the patients and told them to return if they suffer fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

İstanbul Provincial Health Director Mehmet Bakar said Monday that citizens should avoid contact with ticks whenever possible.

"There has never been a CCHF incident in İstanbul. But this does not mean that there won't be one in the future," he noted.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/20/tick_bite_disease_scare_floods_hospitals/5920/

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ticks a result of insecticide – Takvim

Ticks are once again spreading fear across Turkey, but experts argue that the application of insecticide is still not a good idea because the chemicals also exterminate creatures that feed on ticks, disrupting nature's equilibrium, daily Takvim reported yesterday.

Some ticks, found primarily in rural areas, can cause the death of those they bite in one week's time, as a result of the transmission of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The fight against the bloodsucking arachnid has been waged with insecticides since 2002, when the ticks were first spotted in Turkey.

A member of the Parasitology Department of the Veterinary Faculty at Ankara University, Professor Zafer Karaer, said tons of poison was deposited in fields as a result of pressure from chemical companies, but that this disrupted the cycle of nature in the area.

He added that chemicals also killed animals and insects that prey on ticks. “Grasslands where ticks spend the winter should be plowed a number of times in the period between October and March. This way ticks can be exposed and eaten by birds,” he said.

Karaer added that small creatures that feed on ticks were also killed during the application of insecticides. “Moreover, ticks develop resistance to these chemicals,” he said.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=105101

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

16 June 2008, Monday

3 suspected CCHF cases in Diyarbakır medical staff

Two physicians and an assistant paramedic at the Diyarbakır Dicle University School of Medicine Research Hospital were quarantined on Sunday for probable contraction of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a disease carried by certain tick species.

The university said the three were quarantined as a precaution after treating a CCHF patient who later died at the hospital.

The quarantine follows an official announcement last week from Ankara Numune Hospital saying that two of its doctors who had treated a CCHF patient had contracted the infection.

The disease can be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person. The doctors were most likely infected by direct contact with the patient's blood when it splashed into their eyes as they tried to stop the patient's nose from bleeding, the Ankara hospital said.

The doctors, identified as O.U. and A.K., were already displaying symptoms of the disease. The hospital's health staff said on Friday about 20 people suspected of having contracted CCHF were under observation at the hospital.

Last Friday, news reports said yet another patient had died of CCHF in the central Anatolian province of Yozgat. So far 500 people in the province have visited area hospitals this year complaining of tick bites.

Since first observed in Turkey 2002, 114 people have died of CCHF in the country, including 22 so far this year. The fever is particularly common in central Anatolian and eastern Anatolian provinces, especially Tokat, ?orum, Sivas, Amasya, Yozgat, G?m?şhane, Bayburt, Erzurum and Erzincan. Last year, 717 people were diagnosed with the disease, claiming 33 lives.

Experts say people who have come into contact with a tick should be monitored for 10 days following contact and seek professional medical care if symptoms of fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea present themselves.


TODAY'S ZAMAN İSTANBUL


http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=144966

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Another person dies from CCHF

A patient suspected of having Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) died yesterday in the central Anatolian city of Konya, while another patient displaying symptoms of the disease is in critical condition in Sivas.

Victim M.D. died after he was transferred to Sel?uk University Hospital from the Beyşehir district of Konya. Doctors said his symptoms and blood samples indicated that he may have had CCHF, a viral disease carried by certain tick species, but they are awaiting confirmation from a laboratory in Ankara.

The doctors also noted that they hadn?t found any ticks on the patient?s body.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl with CCHF symptoms was transferred yesterday to a larger hospital in Sivas from Tokat Cevdet Aykan State Hospital because of her deteriorating condition. E.?., who resides in a village in Tokat, pulled off a tick from her leg, thinking she had a simple bite. She was hospitalized a week later.

During E.?.?s transfer, the ambulance driver noticed that her nose was bleeding and the people around her were given masks as a precaution since the disease can also be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person.

Two physicians and an assistant paramedic at the Diyarbakır Dicle University School of Medicine Research Hospital were quarantined on Sunday for suspected contraction of CCHF. The doctors were most likely infected by the patient?s blood when it came into contact with their eyes as they tried to stop the patient?s nosebleed.

Since first observed in Turkey 2002, 92 people have died of CCHF in the country, including 22 so far this year. The fever is much more prevalent in central Anatolian and eastern Anatolian provinces, especially Tokat, ?orum, Sivas, Amasya, Yozgat, G?m?şhane, Bayburt, Erzurum and Erzincan. Last year, 717 people were diagnosed with the disease, claiming 33 lives.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=145042

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF SUSPECTED IN TURKEY|_

...

Local media said ticks carrying the virus are multiplying faster than usual due to global warming and high temperatures.

There was also an increase of CCHF a year after all birds had been culled owing to bird flu. Villagers complained about this, as there were no birds left to eat the insects, ticks multiplied and there were several deaths in people; I can't remember if it was in Turkey or Azerbaijan, or elsewhere. I've looked for the reference but can't find it.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|CCHF (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Re: _|CCHF (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

See also this thread: http://flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=162444

 

[Shiloh]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=145221&bolum=101

Tick-borne disease claims four lives in two days

Despite the warnings of officials and measures taken to prevent the spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), which is transmitted by tick bites and can be fatal, the disease continues to claim lives -- killing four people in Turkey in the last two days.

A 53-year-old woman who was transferred to the İzmir Atat?rk Research Hospital from her hometown of ?anakkale with a suspected case of CCHF died on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, M.D., a mother of two and a farmer in a village in Ayvacık district, was bitten by a tick three weeks ago. She reportedly tried to pull the tick off her skin on her own and soon started having terrible abdomen aches. M.D. turned to the Ayvacık State Hospital and was then transferred to İzmir two days ago for more treatment. She also died on Tuesday.

Another woman receiving treatment for CCHF in Sivas also died. H.A., 84, was taken to Cumhuriyet University?s School of Medicine Hospital four days ago after being bitten by a tick. Her condition rapidly deteriorated due to her advanced age and she died yesterday despite the best efforts of doctors.

Another tick-related CCHF case that ended in tragedy happened this time in Ankara. M.B., a 15-year-old shepherd, picked a tick off his dog and squashed the tick while grazing his sheep in ?orum?s Sungurlu district. M.B. did not wash his hands after killing the tick and had a fever two days after, when he was sent to Sungurlu State Hospital. M.B. was sent to the Ankara Numune Hospital on Monday after being diagnosed with CCHF and died on Wednesday evening.

Dr. Fikret Purtul, the health director of ?orum, a town in Central Anatolia which has seen most of the CCHF cases in recent years, noted that awareness campaigns carried out in rural and urban areas about CCHF have been effective.

?School directors were trained in ?orum and fliers have been distributed. Teams of medical professionals have traveled to villages to raise awareness about CCHF. We have also distributed anti-tick repellants, an initiative funded by the Health Ministry, to villagers. Locals have been advised to visit a hospital if they have been bitten by a tick. Patients that have contacted hospitals will be monitored. Once their lab and test results have been reviewed, treatment will be tailored to them. When necessary, patients will be transferred to better-equipped hospitals,? he added.

]Diyarbakır Health Director Namık Kemal Kubat said 10 people are being quarantined after four of them, including a doctor and a janitor, tested positive for CCHF. Six of them are suspected of carrying the virus.[/B

Assistant Professor Mahmut Ko?, the head physician of Ankara Numune Hospital, said [Bthe condition of three doctors and a healthcare worker who were treated for CCHF was fairly well and that they would be discharged by Friday. Ko? recalled that the three doctors and the healthcare worker had contracted the disease while treating a bleeding CCHF patient.

19 June 2008, Thursday
TODAY?S ZAMAN WITH WIRES İSTANBUL

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Tick bites cases expected to increase in summer

Friday, June 20, 2008


Population of ticks carrying the virus multiply faster than usual depending on high temperatures, say experts

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

While ticks have become a nightmare in the country, killing over 26 people in the last six months, experts warn that the number of people infected by ticks may yet increase with rising temperatures in the coming summer months.

?The climate conditions affect the spread of disease, which is activated in hot weather. Population of ticks carrying the virus multiply faster than usual depending on climate conditions and high temperatures,? Esrag?l Akıncı of the Ankara Numune Hospital told the Turkish Daily News.

In the last month alone, seven people in the country have died from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, or CCHF, which is transmitted by tick bites, while hundreds of people have rushed to hospitals after finding ticks on their skin.

The disease killed 27 people last year. Among the recent victims of the disease are three doctors from the same hospital who caught the disease while treating a CCHF patient.

There is no an effective vaccine against the disease, so doctors warn people to take all possible precaution to protect themselves from tick bites. ?The earlier the tick is removed from the skin, the more effective result is obtained from treatment,? said Akıncı.

Urgent medical intervention vital

CCHF mainly poses a threat to animals and people living in rural areas. It is normally transmitted through the bites of infected ticks or from direct contact with infected blood and tissue from livestock. The disease has mostly struck farm and slaughterhouse workers in rural areas of the central Anatolian and Black Sea regions.

Experts recommend that those working in agriculture and with livestock examine their bodies every day to detect any possible ticks on their skins. People are encouraged to wear protective clothing when in open areas, including picnic areas, or while working in the fields. Tick repellent spray, which can be applied to both the skin and clothing, is another option suggested by experts.

The Health Ministry has also issued warnings about the danger of ticks, saying in case of a bite the skin should be covered with the proper medicine, the tick should be carefully removed with tweezers and iodine should be applied to the bite. Ticks should never be killed by hand, according to Health Ministry officials.


Symptoms of the disease

People bitten by a tick should be kept under medical observation for 10 days and go to the nearest hospital if they have symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. In advanced cases, the disease is accompanied by a nosebleed and gum bleeding.

Another expert speaking with the daily Cumhuriyet newspaper, Professor Levent Doğancı, said it is believed the disease has existed in the country for a while, but that improvements in diagnostic capacity and the disruption of the natural equilibrium have increased the number of cases, particularly since 2002.

Around 1,800 cases were observed in Turkey in the summer months in the last five or six years. The figure is likely to increase given the number of people who show only mild symptoms of the disease and thus do not apply to health institutions or are improperly diagnosed, according to Doğancı.

He said most cases in Turkey are observed between the period of June and September, with the disease affecting mostly the three major river basins of Kızılırmak, Yeşilırmak and ?oruh, as well as the provinces of Samsun, Ordu, Amasya, ?orum, Tokat, Yozgat, Erzincan and Trabzon.


Applying disinfectant not useful

The Agriculture Ministry, meanwhile, said it does not find applying insecticide to the areas where ticks spread practical or useful.

?Applying insecticide from air to the areas where the ticks and other harmful insects are widely seen is not useful as it will harm the natural equilibrium,? said Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker, speaking at a conference in Ankara yesterday.

He said the ministry applied insecticide to areas in 36 provinces where ticks are widespread and that using the same method in forested areas is not applicable.

?The most effective solution, however, is having personal education on the issue. When you look at the cases so far which have resulted in death, you will notice that they either failed to apply the health institutions or applied a wrong treatment. People have to learn ways to protect themselves against ticks,? he said.

Experts also warn that applying insecticide from the air may kill the birds that destroy ticks, undermining efforts to fight the insects.

Meanwhile, speaking to journalists yesterday, Health Minister Recep Akdağ said a specific type of tick causes the disease and that this breed of the insect survives best in steppe climates and in arid lands where thickets are common. Farmers and those who deal with livestock in rural areas constitute the high-risk group, while there was no such a risk for those living in urban areas, he added.

?However, in picnic areas people should be careful,? he said. ?People should wear more protective clothes with light colors.?

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever was first identified in Crimea in 1944 and later appeared in Congo in 1956.

The Republican People's Party, or CHP, meanwhile asked for the establishment of a parliamentary commission in order to identify the measures that can be taken against ticks.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=107772

 

[Shiloh]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=145449&bolum=101

?Awareness of tick-borne disease must be raised?

The cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a viral disease transmitted by ticks, is increasing year by year, a fact that Associate Professor Zati Vatansever says is due to lack of awareness of the disease in rural areas, where it is most common.

"Mostly seen in rural areas, transmitted to people by ticks, increasing between the months of April and October, coming suddenly and killing within two weeks," reported the dailies and television news broadcasts over the last several months. CCHF seems to be the new threat to the Turkish population. Experts say the disease, whose victims have increased fivefold in the last five years, will become an even bigger problem in coming years. Seen six years ago for the first time in Turkey, CCHF has killed 134 people in the country thus far. Infecting two doctors and one other medical staff member at the Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, the seriousness of disease has reached an alarming point.

CCHF and Turkey

CCHF entered world medical literature back in the 1940s. In the summer of 1944, it was seen in Russian soldiers transporting agricultural products in Western Crimea for the first time. In 1956, the same disease was witnessed in Congo, which is how the disease got its name. The history of the disease in Turkey does not go back that far; CCHF was first observed here in the summer of 2002.

Esra Demir, working as a nurse at the Tokat Social Security Authority (SSK) Hospital, in 2002 suddenly felt unwell and was taken to the Ankara Hacettepe University Hospital. Despite all the attempts to treat her, she died after one week and her reason of death was recorded as unknown. However, six more people died in a short period in Tokat, a province in the Black Sea region, and the deaths were announced as "deaths with unknown reasons" to the media. The Ministry of Health at first thought that this unknown disease resembled Q fever, a disease caused by infection with the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Yet upon finding that the symptoms were not quite the same as those of Q fever, blood samples were sent to the laboratories of the Pasteur Institute in France. The tests conducted there finally confirmed that the disease was CCHF.

Detection of 327 CCHF cases in Tokat province shows that it is one of the most affected regions in Turkey. Thus the question arises, why Tokat? To understand this, we must explore the conditions causing the disease in the province and the characteristics of infected ticks.

Female ticks pose greater threat

Vatansever, associate professor at the department of parasitology at the veterinary school of Kafkas University, has been conducting research on ticks since 1989. And since 2004, when the disease began to spread, the professor has been analyzing CCHF-infected ticks and the domestic and wild animals that carry them. There are 850 tick species in the world, with 32 of them present in Turkey; however, not all ticks carry the CCHF virus. The virus is carried by ticks of the Hyalomma marginatum marginatum species. Virus-carrying ticks lodge in small wild animals such as mice or rabbits and in wild birds. They mature on these smaller animals and then move on to large wild animals, cattle and people. After the ticks feed on their host, they detach themselves and while male ticks die soon thereafter, females die after laying their eggs. Stating that the real threat is posed by female ticks, Vatansever noted: "Three to 5 percent of eggs of a tick bearing the CCHF virus are also contaminated. In this sense, female ticks present more of a threat than males."

How ticks choose a host

Unless ticks find a suitable host, they live for an average of one year. In temperatures of 16-18 degrees Celsius, their life spans can extend up to three years. The characteristics of virus-carrying ticks are different from other ticks. The ticks of the Hyalomma species are also known as hunters. These ticks burrow into soil, unlike many other ticks that live on plants. They can feel vibrations and heat, while also being able to smell and identify carbon dioxide from exhalation. Vatansever noted that the infected ticks attach themselves to people who are sitting or lying down, not moving. "They feel vibrations and sense heat and carbon dioxide emitted from people and gravitate toward them. They start climbing from a person's feet and look for an area on which to attach themselves."

Ornithologist Ahmet K?t?k?? emphasized another crucial point. He said migratory birds, particularly storks, play an active role in spreading the disease. "Yet the real host for the ticks are not birds, but rodents," he noted.

The number of CCHF virus-transmitting ticks is increasing in the world, and this is related to an increase in suitable conditions, which include heat, humidity and proper hosts, Vatansever noted. He also explained that while only 40 percent of tick species can reproduce under normal weather conditions, the ecological changes caused by global warming have led to warmer weather, which prolongs the life span of ticks and facilitates their reproduction. Virus-carrying ticks are able to survive in regions where ocean climates -- typical of the Black Sea region -- and semi-arid climates -- typical of central Anatolia and eastern Anatolia -- meet, and those types of ticks prefer areas with small trees and cattle. Conducting field studies on the range of virus-carrying ticks, Vatansever found that ?orum, Amasya, Tokat, Yozgat, Sivas, Erzurum and Artvin are at the highest risk. The least hazardous regions are the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts, Vatansever said.

'Rural areas should be more concerned about risk'

Taking a closer look at the deaths caused by ticks reveals that cattle owners, farmers and shepherds are the most at-risk population. In addition, soldiers, campers and picnickers, veterinarians, forest workers and health staff working in infected areas are at risk. The percentage of deaths among elderly people over 70 is also striking.

Noting that the CCHF-transmitting ticks live on cattle and wild animals, Vatansever said it is pointless to worry about ticks in urban areas. However, the professor complained about ignorance in rural areas. "People in rural areas live with ticks from their childhood to adulthood, and they think they know about ticks. When they see photographs of ticks in newspapers, they say that the ticks in the photos do not resemble those living in their villages. They are exposed to tick bites every summer, but they remove them on their own. The village people do not want to believe that CCHF-carrying ticks can be fatal. And then they want to believe the nonsense alleging that the ticks are sent from Israel. Unfortunately it is very hard to do away with these kinds of beliefs," he said, adding that he believes if rural people had just a little concern over the ticks, they would take simple measures to protect themselves.

Tick bites kill within two weeks

The CCHF virus is transferred to people and animals via tick bites. While the virus does not necessarily kill animals, it is often fatal for people. Symptoms of the infection are sudden fever, nausea, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Bleeding of different parts of body may also accompany these symptoms. H?rrem Bodur, the chief of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Ankara Numune Hospital, explained the course of the disease, saying: "There are platelets circulating in the blood in the human body functioning as bleeding clotters. But entering into human body via tick bites, the virus causes the number of platelet cells to decrease, which damages the veins and which, in turn, causes hemorrhage. External hemorrhage in parts like the nose and ears or internal hemorrhage, causing parts of the body to appear bruised and purplish, may occur as a result of decreasing platelets," Bodur said.

Experts say that disease symptoms appear within one to three days or 10 days at most after the virus enters a person's body. It is vital for a patient to stay in the hospital after infection. Patients who survive after two weeks become permanently immune to the disease. Raising awareness is of crucial importance to effectively combat the disease. Experts have suggested that more action be taken in high-risk areas by the ministries of health and agriculture. A regular inspection of the animal population in problematic regions is another important step to take. Widespread education campaigns need to be conducted to raise awareness of the people in rural areas.

22 June 2008, Sunday
NURSEL DİLEK ANKARA

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Three more die from tick bites

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

BURSA ? Doğan News Agency

Three people were pronounced dead at hospitals Monday in the provinces of Bursa, ?anakkale and Samsun, taking the death toll from tick bites to 37 in the past two months.

According to Doğan news agency, Mustafa Kayrı from the western province of Bursa went camping 10 days ago and was bitten by a tick. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with the deadly Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, or CCHF, and moved to the intensive care unit.

In the western province of ?anakkale, İbrahim G?ven died in hospital after being treated for suspected CCHF infection. He had told relatives that he had seen a tick on his body. He was buried in a zinc casket with lime spread over the grave as a precaution. Another person had died from CCHF in the same province last month.

Another man, Cafer Sağlam, died from CCHF Monday in the northern province of Samsun after he was bitten by a tick and removed it with his hand.

The Health Ministry also issued a statement to warn people against tick bite cases. In case of a tick bite the skin should be covered with the proper medicine. The tick should be removed by doctors using tweezers with great care and iodine should be applied to the bite. Health Ministry officials said ticks should never be killed by hand.

Moreover, those people, touched by any tick, should be kept under medical observation for 10 days, and go to the nearest hospital if they have symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, officials from the Health Ministry said.

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever mainly affects animals. Ticks, which live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus to people.

It is an Ebola-like fever where patients can bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Health authorities said a warmer climate, which Turkey has experienced in recent years, could mean a larger tick population that could in turn infect more people with the disease.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=109351

 

[Shiloh]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=147150&bolum=101

No CCHF cases in Crimea in almost five decades

First recognized among Russian soldiers in what is now the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has not been observed in the country from which it gained part of its name for close to half a century, even as cases in Turkey continue to increase.

Speaking to Today?s Zaman, Simferopol?s Infectious Diseases Laboratory head Maria Kroviakova stated that on average 3,000 to 4,000 people a year are bitten by ticks in the Crimea, however, she noted, cases of CCHF haven?t been seen in the region since 1960.

Lab worker Alexandra Pavlona said currently there isn?t a CCHF threat in Crimea. ?We test nearly 8,000 to 10,000 ticks for the CCHF virus in our laboratory every year and we have not encountered this virus,? noted Pavlona.

Biologist Igor Yekstavyev noted that people in Crimea are at risk of acquiring another tick-transmitted disease, tick-born encephalitis. Yekstavyev said this virus is found in only one kind of tick, which mainly lives in mountainous and forested areas. He noted, however, that the disease can be prevented through vaccination.

The reason for the drop in the number of CCHF-bearing ticks in Crimea is reported to be changes in animal husbandry, minimizing interaction between ticks in grazing areas and human hosts.

Turkey, on the other hand, has seen an increase in the number of CCHF cases in recent years. The latest fatality from the disease occurred in the eastern Black Sea province of G?m?şhane. A 71-year-old woman taken to G?m?şhane State Hospital last Wednesday with a suspected case of CCHF and later transferred to Karadeniz Technical University Farabi Hospital for further treatment died yesterday, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Authorities say, with this last fatal case, tick-related deaths in G?m?şhane total two so far this year, and 10 people are receiving treatment for the same disease at hospitals in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, the eastern Anatolian province of Erzurum and the central Anatolian province of Sivas. According to a report prepared by the Turkish Health Union, Turkey witnessed 438 CCHF cases and 27 CCHF-related deaths in 2006, 717 cases and 33 deaths in 2007 and 31 deaths in the first half of 2008 alone.

CCHF was first observed in the summer of 1944 among 200 people, the majority of whom were Russian soldiers transporting agricultural products in Western Crimea, and 50 of this group died. The same disease was identified in the Congo in 1956, and the two locations where the disease was first observed were combined to form the current name. The disease was first seen in Turkey in the summer of 2002.

10 July 2008, Thursday
YUNUS ERDOĞDU SİMFEROPOL

 

[Shiloh]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=147168&bolum=101

Woman dies from CCHF
A woman from the central Anatolian province of ?ankırı who contracted Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) died in a hospital in Ankara on Thursday.

Sabriye K., from ?ankırı's Orta district, was bitten by a tick and hospitalized at ?ankırı State Hospital. As her condition worsened, she was transferred to Ankara Numune Hospital last Sunday.

Doctors diagnosed her symptoms to have been caused by a fatal viral disease carried by some tick species. She was subsequently moved to Dışkapı Research Hospital for treatment, where Sabriye K. died despite medical efforts to save her. She was buried in her hometown of Kalfat in Orta.

10 July 2008, Thursday
TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES İSTANBUL

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Tick kills another person

Thursday, July 24, 2008

A 74-year-old man from the Black Sea town of Kastamonu died yesterday from Crimean-Congo fever, becoming the 41st person to die from the tick-borne disease in the last two months.

Ahmet Ek was bitten by a tick 10 days ago, reported the Doğan news agency, and was hospitalized six days ago when he started to show symptoms of the disease.

He was sent to a state hospital in the western province of Karab?l and was diagnosed with Crimean-Congo fever. When his condition deteriorated, doctors decided to transfer him to a hospital in Bolu in the west of the country, but he died on the way.

Ek will be buried today in his hometown of Pınarbaşı in Kastamonu.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever mainly affects animals. Ticks, which live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus onto people. It is an Ebola-like fever where patients can bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=110598

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Nurse dies of Crimean-Congo fever

Friday, July 25, 2008


BOLU – Doğan News Agency


A nurse who was diagnosed with Crimean-Congo fever without being bitten by a tick died at the Ankara Numune Hospital yesterday, and could possibly be the first instance of human-to-human passing of the infection in Turkey.

Reports said it is not yet known how Arzu Ögren, 27, contracted the disease and officials are investigating the matter.

Ögren who worked at the orthopedics department in a state hospital in the western province of Bolu was diagnosed with the disease six days ago and was later transferred to the Ankara hospital.

It was reported that the nurse also worked at the infectious diseases department at one time.

The chief surgeon of Bolu hospital, Dr. Hüseyin İka, said they were looking into how the infection could have occurred.

The deadly disease is usually associated with tick bites and Ögen's case may be the first case of human-to-human infection in Turkey. A total of 41 people have died in Turkey from the disease this year alone.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever mainly affects animals. Ticks, which live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus onto people. It is an Ebola-like fever where patients can bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe.



http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=110738

 

[Treyfish]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

CRIMEAN-CONGO WITHOUT HEMORRHAGE A nurse has died after being infected with the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus. It was revealed that 26-year-old Arzu Ogren was not bitten by a tick. Now, doctors are trying to explain how she was infected with the deadly CCHF virus. :tiphat: http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=243478

 

[Treyfish]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - TURKEY (13): NOSOCOMIAL SUSPECTED
*******************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 25 Jul 2008
Source: Turkish Daily News, Dogan News Agency report [edited]
<http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=110738>


Nurse dies of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
---------------------------------------------
A nurse who was diagnosed with Crimean-Congo fever (CCHF) without
being bitten by a tick died at the Ankara Numune Hospital yesterday
[24 Jul 2008], and could possibly be the 1st instance of
human-to-human passing of the infection in Turkey. Reports said it is
not yet known how the 27-year-old nurse contracted the disease and
officials are investigating the matter.

The nurse who worked at the orthopedics department in a state
hospital in the western province of Bolu was diagnosed with the
disease 6 days ago and was later transferred to the Ankara hospital.
It was reported that the nurse also worked at the infectious diseases
department at one time. The chief surgeon of Bolu hospital, Dr Hseyin
Ika, said they were looking into how the infection could have
occurred.

The deadly disease [CCHF] is usually associated with tick bites and
the nurse's case may be the 1st case of human-to-human infection in
Turkey. A total of 41 people have died in Turkey from the disease
this year [2008] alone.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever mainly affects animals. Ticks, which
live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus onto people.
It is an Ebola-like [that is, hemorrhagic] fever where patients can
bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can
transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is
endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur A-Lan Banks

[The CCHF outbreak in Turkey continues to develop. Since the previous
report dated 10 Jul 2008 (see archive reference below), the death
toll has risen from 37 to 41.

While the precise circumstances of the infection of the deceased
nurse are unclear, nosocomial infection in hospital is a serious
concern.

According to the World Health Organisation Fact sheet
(<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs208/en/>):

"When patients with CCHF are admitted to hospital, there is a risk of
nosocomial [in-hospital] spread of infection. Serious outbreaks have
occurred in this way and it is imperative that adequate infection
control measures be observed to prevent this disastrous outcome.
Patients with suspected or confirmed CCHF should be isolated and cared
for using barrier nursing techniques. Specimens of blood or tissues
taken for diagnostic purposes should be collected and handled using
universal precautions. Sharps (needles and other penetrating surgical
instruments) and body wastes should be safely disposed of using
appropriate decontamination procedures. Healthcare workers are at risk
of acquiring infection from sharps injuries during surgical procedures
and, in the past, infection has been transmitted to surgeons operating
on patients to determine the cause of the abdominal symptoms in the
early stages of (at that moment undiagnosed) infection. Healthcare
workers who have had contact with tissue or blood from patients with
suspected or confirmed CCHF should be followed up with daily
temperature and symptom monitoring for at least 14 days after the
putative [supposed] exposure."

A map of the provinces of Turkey showing Bolu in the west, north of
Ankara, is available at
<http://www.mapsofworld.com/turkey/turkey-political-map.html>.:tiphat: http://tinyurl.com/6lk8sn

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Farmer falls victim to CCHF

A patient with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) from northern Tokat province succumbed to the disease at the Sivas hospital where he was being treated.

According to the Anatolia news agency, a tick bit the 37-year-old farmer while he was working in a field in a village in Tokat. He went to a hospital in Tokat and hospital staff removed the tick. After being released from the hospital he fell ill and went back to the hospital. He was transferred to Sivas Cumhuriyet University Research and Training Hospital, where he died despite medical attention.

Reports say the farmer, a father of three, was buried in his village yesterday.

Mostly infecting animals, CCHF is a viral disease transmitted by ticks. The virus can infect sheep and cattle in addition to humans and is fatal if not detected and treated early. It has been responsible for the deaths of more and more people in Turkey each year since its first recorded incidence in Turkey in 2002.


20.08.2008

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=150720&bolum=101

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: _|Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) (SUSPECTED) IN TURKEY|_

Experts advise flagging against deadly ticks

Areas of vegetation can be checked for the ticks that carry Crimean Congo Hemorr-hagic Fever (CCHF) through a zero-cost method known as flagging, an agricultural engineering expert has said.

Derya Ulaşoğlu, an agricultural engineer and entomologist, speaking to the Anatolia news agency yesterday, said CCHF, which has caused a number of deaths in Turkey in the past few years, can easily be fought through the use of flagging. Unfortunately, she said, this method is not very well known in Turkey, where a large number of methods for tick control have been attempted both by farmers and the state.

"The most effective method for finding ticks before spraying an area is called flagging. It consists of fashioning a flag with a handle and a piece of white cloth, such as a towel. The flag is then dragged through vegetation and over the ground, and examined every 10 meters for the presence of ticks. This zero-cost method, used all around the world, is practically unknown in Turkey, unfortunately," Ulaşoğlu said. The ticks can then be pulled off with tweezers, placed in a glass jar and sent off for analysis.

Ulaşoğlu added that the appropriate protective measures, such as insect repellent and wrapping packaging tape around one's pant legs, should be taken, adding that the highest risk for CCHF is between March and November, the period in which the largest number of tick bites occur. Ulaşoğlu also warned farmers not to spray land or yards for ticks without first checking for ticks.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=153218&bolum=101