Namibia: Crimean-Congo Fever 2010

[Ronan Kelly]

Denver Kisting
28 July 2010

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NEWS about Louisa Hoffman possibly also being infected by the deadly Congo Fever poured cold water over Andries Hoffman's improving condition.

Louisa is also lying in isolation in a Bloemfontein hospital in South Africa where she will hear this morning whether she also has Congo Fever. Speaking from her hospital bed yesterday afternoon, she told The Namibian that her fever rose to higher than 38 degrees yesterday morning and that she had also developed flu-like symptoms.

She said: "This is very bad." This came after news that Andries might be discharged on Friday. Since yesterday, he is being treated in an ordinary ward. Louisa said that livestock inspectors visited farm Arabi yesterday to harvest ticks from sheep and cattle to try and determine how Andries had contracted the disease.

The couple's two children are also being closely monitored. Congo Fever's symptoms resembles that of flu, but one remains sick for longer and usually also start bleeding. The disease is spread to humans through tick bites or contact with infected carcasses.

Dr Jack Vries, chairperson of the Ministry of Health and Social Services' National Health Emergency Management Committee, yesterday said the health ministry remains on full alert. The ministry has been monitoring the situation on the farm since Friday.

Earlier Vries said that this was the first case of Congo Fever reported in the country for the past eight years. Mrs Hoffman earlier had a lot of praise for the people of the Aroab community as well as the personnel of Ward K of the ICU in the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic for their support.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201007281029.html

 

[alert]

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

This is an original article from a week ago about the first case.

http://www.health24.com/news/Infectious_diseases/1-922,57331.asp

Farmer treated for Congo fever in F State
Created: Thursday, July 22, 2010 Print

A Namibian farmer has been admitted to the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic with Congo fever, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Thursday.
Andries Hoffman, 44, from the Aroab district was admitted to the hospital on Monday.
Hoffman was admitted to the Medi-Clinic in Upington on Sunday, and airlifted to Bloemfontein on Monday.
Medi-Clinic Bloemfontein spokeswoman Amanda Appelgryn said Hoffman was in the intensive care unit in isolation. Tests showed he had Congo fever.
"It is not yet known how he got sick. One gets infected either by a tick bite or handling an infected carcass."
Appelgryn said Hoffman was stable, but very sick. - (Sapa, July 2010)

 

[alert]

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

http://www.namibian.com.na/news/ful...ngo-fever-vigilant-not-worried-says-dr-vries/

26.07.10
Congo fever: Vigilant, not worried says Dr Vries
By: DENVER KISTING

THE Ministry of Health and Social Services sent a team to the farm Arabi on Friday to monitor the situation after farm owner Andries Hoffman was diagnosed with the deadly Congo fever.
Dr Jack Vries, chairperson of the National Health Emergency Management Committee, said although there was no reason for concern yet, ?this Congo fever doesn?t play?.
It is a highly contagious disease for which there is no cure. ?There is no treatment ? one can only provide support? and treat the symptoms, Vries said.
On Thursday, the hospital?s spokesperson Amanda Appelgryn said the disease starts with flu-like symptoms. However, one stays ill for longer and often starts bleeding too.
Hoffman, who is being treated in an isolation ward in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic in South Africa, was diagnosed with the disease last week.
According to Vries, this is the first case of Congo fever in Namibia in eight years.
He said Hoffman had been bleeding profusely from the nose and plugs were put in his nostrils.



Yesterday morning, his daughter, Petro, said that her father was ?doing better? and that her mother, Louisa, might have been allowed to visit her husband yesterday afternoon.
Appelgryn last week said that only one nurse was allowed to see Hoffman.
Petro and her younger brother as well as Louisa have to take their temperature twice a day. The grade 12 girl said that so far ?our temperature has been staying the same?.
Hoffman was flown from the Upington Medi-Clinic to Bloemfontein last Monday.
The cattle and sheep farmer from the Aroab district in southern Namibia was admitted to the hospital in Upington last Sunday.
The disease is spread to humans through tick bites or if they have contact with infected carcasses. It remains unclear how Hoffman, who turned 44 two weeks ago, contracted the disease.
Vries said the disease is closely related to Rift Valley fever (RVF) and can only be distinguished from this equally deadly disease by blood tests. He urged Namibians to remain vigilant.
Although Namibia has been experiencing an outbreak of RVF for some months now, which has killed close to 50 animals, no human infections have been reported yet. This is the first RVF outbreak in Namibia since 1985.

 

[alert]

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

http://www.namibian.com.na/news/ful...july/article/southern-farmer-has-congo-fever/

Southern farmer has Congo fever
By: DENVER KISTING

A NAMIBIAN farmer, Andries Hoffman, is seriously ill with Congo fever in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic in South Africa.
Laboratory results the past week confirmed that Hoffman (44), a cattle and sheep farmer in the Aroab district, has the highly contagious disease. He is being kept in isolation, where only one dedicated nurse attends to him.
According to the hospital?s spokesperson, Amanda Appelgryn, Hoffman was flown to Bloemfontein from Upington on Monday. He had been admitted to a hospital in Upington on Sunday.
Apparently Hoffman had not been feeling well since the previous Sunday.
According to his daughter, Petro, her father recently fell off his horse and injured a rib. It was initially thought that it was because of this injury that he was not feeling well.
When her father did not get better, he decided to travel to Upington on Sunday, where he was admitted to the Medi-Clinic there, she said.
According to Appelgryn, Congo fever is highly contagious. The disease is spread to people through tick bites or contact with an infected carcass.
Appelgryn says it remains a mystery how Hoffman contracted the disease.
?He can?t remember having been bitten by a tick. However, he did work with carcasses.?
She points out, though, that certain ticks leave no marks when they bite and sometimes the bite does not hurt.
She says everyone who has been in close contact with Hoffman is being monitored. His wife, Louisa, is in Bloemfontein to support her husband although she is not allowed to have any contact with him.
The disease is spread from one person to another through the exchange of body fluids.
Petro yesterday told The Namibian that she and her younger brother, who stayed behind in Aroab, were taking their temperatures daily and reporting the readings to their mother.
At this stage, it does not seem that anyone else is infected.
Dr Jack Vries, chairperson of the Ministry of Health and Social Services? National Health Emergency Management Committee, yesterday said that they had not been informed about this Congo fever case.
He urged for more information to be provided to the ministry, which would then consider to ?maybe send in a team? to the farm, Arabi, and assess the situation.
Vries emphasised that Congo fever is a ?notifiable infection?. This means that it needs to be reported to the health ministry to take steps to curb the spread of the disease.
Appelgryn says Congo fever at first feels like the flu. ?But then the person becomes more ill and could also start bleeding.?
She says this is the first case of the deadly disease admitted to the Bloemfontein hospital this year.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

Re: Namibia: Congo Fever Patient's Wife Hospitalised

Archive Number 20100810.2732
Published Date 10-AUG-2010
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Namibia: (KA)


CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - NAMIBIA: (KARAS}
**************************************************
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: Mon 2 Aug 2010
Source: AllAfrica, The Namibian report [edited]
<http://allafrica.com/stories/201008030900.html>


Although not back on his cattle and sheep farm yet, a Namibian Congo fever
[Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic a fever] patient has been discharged from
hospital. He was discharged from the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic on Friday [30
Jul 2010]. According to his wife they decided that he should stay behind in
South Africa for the rest of the week to recuperate. This, she said, was
also because she was still recovering from the flu, and "should there be a
problem", he would be close to the doctors who had taken care of him the
last 2 weeks.

His wife returned to their farm, on Saturday [31 Jul 2010]. Their 2
children had stayed on the farm for the past fortnight, monitoring their
own health to make sure that they had not contracted the deadly fever. Last
week [week ending 1 Aug 2010], the farmer's wife was also admitted to
hospital after her temperature rose to over 38 deg C [100.4 deg F]. It was
feared that she also had the deadly disease. She was discharged a day
later, when laboratory results showed she did not have Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever.

Earlier, Dr Jack Vries of the Ministry of Health and Social Services urged
Namibians to remain calm but vigilant. He said it was the first outbreak of
the disease, which closely resembles Rift Valley fever (RVF), in the
country for the past 8 years. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, mainly
spread by tick bites, is a notifiable disease.

The country also experienced an outbreak of RVF -- the first since 1985 --
this year [2010]. Last week [week of 26 Jul 2010], the United Nations (UN)
praised Namibia for successfully fighting the outbreak without losing any
human lives.

[byline: Denver Kisting]

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral haemorrhagic fever
caused by a virus belonging to the genus _Nairovirus_ of the family
_Bunyaviridae_ . Although primarily a zoonosis, sporadic cases and
outbreaks of CCHF affecting humans do occur. The disease is endemic in many
countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Outbreaks were recorded in South
Africa in 2008. Recent outbreaks are listed below.

The geographical distribution of the virus, like that of its tick vector,
is widespread. Evidence of CCHF virus has been found in Africa, Asia, the
Middle East, and eastern Europe. Health care workers in endemic areas
should be aware of the illness and the correct infection control procedures
to protect themselves and their patients from the risk of nosocomial
(hospital-acquired) infection.

CCHF virus may infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals. Many birds
are resistant to infection, but ostriches are susceptible and may show a
high prevalence of infection in endemic areas. Animals become infected with
CCHF from the bite of infected ticks.

Humans who become infected with CCHF acquire the virus from direct contact
with blood or other infected tissues from livestock during this time, or
they may become infected from a tick bite. The majority of cases have
occurred in those involved with the livestock industry, such as
agricultural workers, slaughterhouse workers, and veterinarians.

The length of the incubation period for the illness appears to depend on
the mode of acquisition of the virus. Following infection via tick bite,
the incubation period is usually 1 to 3 days, with a maximum of 9 days. The
incubation period following contact with infected blood or tissues is
usually 5 to 6 days, with a documented maximum of 13 days. Onset of
symptoms is sudden, with fever, myalgia (aching muscles), dizziness, neck
pain and stiffness, backache, headache, sore eyes and photophobia
(sensitivity to light). There may be nausea, vomiting, and sore throat
early on, which may be accompanied by diarrhoea and generalised abdominal
pain. Over the next few days, the patient may experience sharp mood swings,
and may become confused and aggressive. After 2 to 4 days, the agitation
may be replaced by sleepiness, depression, and lassitude, and the abdominal
pain may localize to the right upper quadrant, with detectable hepatomegaly
(liver enlargement).

The mortality rate from CCHF is about 30 per cent, with death occurring in
the 2nd week of illness. In those patients who recover, improvement
generally begins on the 9th or 10th day after the onset of illness. More
detailed information concerning the care and treatment of patients who have
contracted CCHF can be found at
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs208/en/index.html>.

Namibia is located in south west Africa bordered by Zimbabwe and South
Africa (<http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/af.htm>). A map
showing the regions of Namibia can be seen at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Namibia> and the
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the country can be accessed at
<http://healthmap.org/r/02et>. - Mod.CP]

[see also:
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia (02): (SL, AN, VD, RV) 20100718.2406
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan ex Afghanistan: RFI 20100629.2161
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kosovo (02) 20100616.2025
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kazakhstan (03): (QO) 20100612.1971
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kosovo 20100611.1964
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Russia: (ST) 20100519.1664
Crimean-Congo hem. fever 2008 - Sudan: nosocomial 20100509.1511
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kazakhstan (02): (SK) 20100428.1376
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Kazakhstan: (SK) 20100419.1273
Crimean-Congo hem. fever, current situation - Europe 20100311.0793
2009
---
Crimean-Congo hem. fever, fatal - Germany ex Afghanistan (02) 20091109.3883]

.................sb/cp/mj/sh

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,84092