Three die of Congo virus in Baluchistan

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.