A total of 16 cases of the virus have been identified in Balochistan province since the start of the year, with 11 detected this month.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani health authorities are alarmed after two people died from the Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus in the country’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
The first death from the disease, commonly known as Congo fever, was reported Friday in Karachi, the country’s largest city and capital of southern Sindh province.
According to provincial health authorities, the 28-year-old man was a butcher by trade, who first complained of a fever on April 30.
When his condition failed to improve, he was taken to a city hospital two days later, where his health continued to deteriorate. But his tests for dengue and malaria came back negative.
On Thursday, he was transferred to intensive care after testing positive for the CCHF virus. He died the next day.
On Sunday, a 20-year-old woman died of Congo fever in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Dr. Lal Jan, a government health official in Balochistan, told Al Jazeera the woman was admitted to a hospital in Quetta last week.
According to Jan, there have been a total of 16 positive cases of CCHF virus in Balochistan since the beginning of the year, with 11 detected this month.
“We are conducting tests for all suspected cases, while also working on treatment and awareness. Since the disease is caused by animals, our animal husbandry department is working to deworm and treat animals entering the province,” he said.
According to Jan, at least four patients are currently being treated for the disease in a government hospital in the province.
“We have created isolation wards for the patients and are providing them with the required treatment,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, Congo fever is caused by a tick-borne virus (nairovirus). It sees people suffering from severe outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality rate of 10-40 percent.
The symptoms are fever, muscle aches, dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, back pain, headache, sore eyes, and photophobia (sensitivity to light). It can also cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, sore throat and sharp mood swings.
The WHO says the disease is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and some parts of Asia.
The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide variety of wild and domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and other livestock.
The WHO says the virus is transmitted to humans through tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissue during and immediately after slaughter.
The health authority says there is no vaccine available for people or animals infected with the virus.