CCHF is a silent killer as infected animals do not exhibit any obvious signs that would point to an infection.
Zulhaja and Kafeel are being treated in different private hospitals after testing positive for the
CCHF.
It said that the extensive movement of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid-ul-Azha significantly enhanced the risk of
CCHF disease transmission due to increased human-animal interaction.
According to NIH, the objective of this advisory was to sensitize human and animal healthcare departments to further strengthen and improve the level of preparedness in prevention and control of
CCHF.
According to the health department, eight
CCHF positive patients had been brought to Karachi's public and private hospitals out of which five expired while three were recovered from fever.
A total nine
CCHF positive patients had been reported in public and private sector hospitals of Karachi city so far, out of them five expired while four others discharged after recovering from viral fever.
In an online statement, the ministry said "Specialists at the ministry immediately imposed a quarantine procedure on a farm in the wilayat of Shinas in North Al Batinah after a citizen was infected with the
CCHF." "They took samples of tick insects [carrier of the disease] from the animals of citizen's farm and other animals, which were sent to the laboratory for examining." The ministry elaborated that it also isolated animals and will follow-up on them with specialists, and guided the citizen's family to follow the proper ways to deal with the animals.
The earliest known case of
CCHF in Kosovo was observed in 1954 (4).
Human cases of
CCHF are relatively rare in SA, but have been reported from all nine provinces of the country.
There are several cases reported regarding spread of
CCHF within close contacts of the index patient resulting in fatal outcomes3.
Experts explained that
CCHF is a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family with a fatality rate of 10% to 40%.
Individuals are prone to the
CCHF when a tick attaches itself to the skin of the cattle, while those in close in-teraction with the in-fested ticks or animals can be led to the dis-ease which is said to have a mortality rate of 40-50 percent.