ISLAMABAD, Nov 6 (NNN-APP) – The government of Pakistan’s south-west Balochistan province, yesterday issued a red alert, over the spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), across the province, after a doctor died of the disease, an official statement said.
Chief minister of Balochistan, Mir Ali Mardan Domki, directed the province’s health and livestock departments, to take immediate steps to curb the CCHF disease, which has claimed 16 lives in the country.
The chief minister instructed to raise awareness among the general public, about the CCHF virus, and also inform farmers to have anti-virus spray at dairy farms.
The official also directed hospitals to be vigilant of the infected, and patients should be provided emergency medical guidance, in case of symptoms of the virus.
The deceased doctor was working at the Civil Hospital of the provincial capital city of Quetta, and had been diagnosed with the CCHF disease, after showing symptoms three days ago.
Spokesperson of the hospital, Waseem Baig, said that, over a dozen doctors and medical staff of the intensive care unit of the hospital, including the deceased doctor, had been diagnosed with the disease and seven serious patients were shifted to a hospital in Karachi.
The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a widespread disease, caused by a tick-borne virus of the Bunyaviridae family. It can be transmitted among humans through close contact with infected blood or bodily fluids, according to the World Health Organisation, with case fatality ratio from 10 to 40 percent.– NNN-APP
