KARACHI, Nov 05 (NNI): A doctor who was infected with Congo virus died
in Quetta.
Dr. Shukrullah was infected while treating a patient in Civil Hospital,
Quetta. He was referred to Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi where he
expired.
Due to the spread of the Congo virus, a ban has been imposed on visiting
patients admitted to the trauma centre in the Civil Hospital, Quetta
The hospital administration also directed the doctors and staff to avoid
going to the trauma centre unnecessarily. The administration has banned
running CT scans and X-rays for the time being.
It bears mentioning that some doctors and other staff of the medicine
ward of the hospital were affected by the Congo virus.
The affected doctors and other staff have been transferred to the
Isolation Ward of Fatima Jinnah Hospital.
This is not the first instance that an epidemic of Congo virus fever has
broken out in Balochistan. In late 80s and mid-90s dozens of people died
of the disease.
Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, or Congo virus, is a viral infection
transmitted by ticks to both animals and humans. The virus is
transmitted by ticks living on the skin of goats, cows, buffalos and
camels, feeding on their blood. The disease is rare in infected animals,
who mostly act as carriers of the disease which they transmit.
It is prevalent in Asia, Africa, Middle East and South Eastern Europe
and is more common between March to October.
It has a high fatality rate, and currently no vaccine or specific
treatment is available for the virus. NNI
