Six cases of the Congo virus have been reported in several areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province including the capital Peshawar, health authorities said on Friday.

In its report, the provincial health department said that two more patients from Lower Kurram were under treatment.

An Afghan national, who was affected with the virus, has been discharged from the hospital after recovery, according to the report.

The results of the medical test of a suspected patient from Peshawar were yet to be received, the report said.

It added that that it was yet to be confirmed whether a resident of Mathra village on the outskirts of Peshawar, who died a few days ago, had Congo fever. The report added that the dead patients brother and father had died of same symptons. Their neighbors have been admitted at Hayatabad Medical Complex for tests which are awaited.

A letter has also been sent to the director general of the Livestock department to ensure examination of cattle in the close vicinity of the affected patients.

The district health officer Kurram and health authorities in Peshawar have been informed regarding contact tracing of the affected patients.

The report said awareness among the people regarding Congo virus has been started while all the health centers have also been alerted in this regard.

The Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), as it is also know, is a virus that causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks. Such outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 40%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals. Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.

There is no vaccine available for either people or animals.