Congo-Crimean fever - Pakistan - Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

[ghostship]

I believe if properly tested this will turn out to be Bird Flu...



Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

20 May 2006 14:13:35 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Abu Arqam Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 20 (Reuters) - Health officials in Pakistan's Kashmir said on Saturday authorities were testing for a suspected outbreak of the potentially deadly Congo virus among survivors of last October's devastating earthquake.

The suspected cases were found in Nauseri village, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad.

"We suspect an outbreak of Congo virus in the area and we have dispatched a special team there to assess the situation," Sardar Mahmood Ahmed Khan, district health officer in Muzaffarabad, told Reuters.

"We received three persons with symptoms suggesting they had contracted the viral haemorrhagic fever," Khan added.

Congo virus is found in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia and belongs to the same family as the deadly Ebola virus found in Africa.

Doctors say people contract the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock, and they can also become infected from a tick bite.

Rashad Akhundov, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, said eight patients suffering from high fever and altered consciousness had been referred to the aid agency's health centre in the city.

"We cannot confirm Congo fever but they have been transferred from Muzaffarabad and are on their way to Islamabad," Akhundov said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20218737.htm

 

[hawkeye]

Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir


Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir
20 May 2006 14:13:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
Printable view | Email this article | RSS XML [-] Text [+]

By Abu Arqam Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 20 (Reuters) - Health officials in Pakistan's Kashmir said on Saturday authorities were testing for a suspected outbreak of the potentially deadly Congo virus among survivors of last October's devastating earthquake.

The suspected cases were found in Nauseri village, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad.

"We suspect an outbreak of Congo virus in the area and we have dispatched a special team there to assess the situation," Sardar Mahmood Ahmed Khan, district health officer in Muzaffarabad, told Reuters.

"We received three persons with symptoms suggesting they had contracted the viral haemorrhagic fever," Khan added.

Congo virus is found in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia and belongs to the same family as the deadly Ebola virus found in Africa.

Doctors say people contract the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock, and they can also become infected from a tick bite.

Rashad Akhundov, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, said eight patients suffering from high fever and altered consciousness had been referred to the aid agency's health centre in the city.

"We cannot confirm Congo fever but they have been transferred from Muzaffarabad and are on their way to Islamabad," Akhundov said.

 

[Mellie]

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

If bird to human...?

How would they have contracted it? Domestic or wild bird? Any evidence of a bird outbreak?

If human to human... ?

How would they have contracted it?

Are there ever outbreaks of Congo virus in Kashmir?

Wow, I don't know enough about the flora, fauna, migratory patterns or common human and livestock ailments of the area to even begin to evaluate this...

 

[Sonny]

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

>From two years ago<

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41096&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Three die of Congo virus in Baluchistan

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 17 May 2004 (IRIN) - Three people have died recently while four others have been hospitalised with the Congo virus in the south-western province of Baluchistan in the latest outbreak of the illness that has plagued the largest - and poorest - of Pakistan's provinces since 2001, claiming over 200 victims, according to a government official.

"There were a total of seven cases. Three died and four are okay now," Dr. Shafi Zehri, the provincial health secretary, told IRIN from Baluchistan's capital, Quetta. Among the survivors was a single Afghan, Zehri said.

"The outbreak was not in Quetta, it is in the rural areas. The cases were only from Qilla Saifullah and Zhob [both outlying rural areas in Baluchistan]. The surviving patients were immediately quarantined, but are okay now," he stressed.

A severe disease, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever can be caused by a tick bite or contact with an infected animal or person. Because of the virus, the infected person suddenly becomes ill with fever, dizziness, neck pain, aching muscles and stiffness, and recurrent headaches within a few days.

Soon, after vomiting and diarrhoea have set in, the volume of blood platelets falls, causing the blood to be unable to clot properly. The bleeding then begins: from the gums, from under the skin, in the nose and internal organs. Without treatment, a patient can literally bleed to death.

"[The outbreak] is due to ticks in the [local] livestock. We have treated the livestock in the areas where the cases was reported. The livestock department rushed there and treated the animals with the ticks," Zehri said.

Including the latest cases, a total of 231 Congo virus cases have been reported in Baluchistan since 2001, the health secretary noted.

There is no known vaccine against the virus, although infected people can be treated with special anti-viral drugs. However, approximately 30 percent of people who contract the deadly disease can die even after receiving medical treatment.

The virus is an especially big problem in neighbouring Afghanistan, where outbreaks can occur once the weather turns warmer, because of a growing tick population. Preventive sprays are unavailable because of resource constraints with the result that the ticks infect sheep and goats, exposing the many Afghans who live and work around livestock to great health risks.

[ENDS]

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

Re: Congo virus outbreak suspected in Pakistan's Kashmir

Evidently the virus has been in the country since 2001. That makes me think we should at least consider it a viable conclusion. And since its mortality rate was slightly less than 50% and the subjects in all likelihood were not given an antiviral, I am leaning to the Congo virus diagnosis. But until we know for sure it wasn't treated with Tamiflu, wait and watch.