The death of a 28-year-old Congo virus patient in Karachi was confirmed by the Sindh health department on Monday.

The deceased, identified as Muhammad Adil, passed away during treatment on Friday, May 5. He tested positive for the virus a few days ago.

Adil was a professional meat slaughterer, processor, and seller (butcher), according to the Health Department. He worked in the meat department at a supermarket in Liaquatabad.

On April 30, the patient took paracetamol tablets at home for a fever and headache.

The official report by the Health Department stated that the patient was transferred to Habib Medical Hospital on May 2 after experiencing a high-grade fever, where he was admitted for one day. After that, the patient occasionally suffered bleeding from the nose and mucous membranes. The patient tested negative for malaria and dengue.

On May 4, Muhammad Adil’s condition worsened and he was moved and admitted to Ziauddin Hospital in North Nazimabad, where he received treatment at the intensive care unit.

However, the patient passed away on May 5, the department said.

The health department said that the patient did not own any animals and that he had not traveled outside Karachi recently.

However, he had a history of animal handling because he worked at a meat market. Meat from already slaughtered animals was brought to the market from slaughterhouses mostly in the Bhains Colony.

Woman dies in Quetta

On May 2, a woman in Quetta died of the Congo virus. The woman had been moved to Quetta’s Fatima Jinnah General & Chest Hospital after she tested positive for Congo virus.

The woman, who hails from Afghanistan, lived in Satellite Town in Quetta.

Dr Zubair Ahmed of Quetta’s Fatima Jinnah Hospital told Dawn newspaper that this was the third death from the virus in the last 10 days. “In the past four months, four people have died of Congo virus.” All patients had traveled to Afghanistan, he said.

What is Congo Virus

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is caused by infection with a virus from that is transmitted by ticks. Crimean hemorrhagic fever was the term given to the illness when it was first identified in the Crimea in 1944. The disease’s current name came about as a result of the fact that it was later identified as the illness’s primary cause in the Congo in 1969.

Humans contract the disease by coming into contact with infected ticks or animal blood, infectious blood, or bodily fluids. The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide range of wild and domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and other livestock.

Hospitals have also documented cases of CCHF spreading because of contaminated medical supplies, reused needles, and insufficient sterilization of medical equipment.

Early indications and symptoms of CCHF include :

• headache
• high temperature
• back discomfort
• joint pain,
• stomach pain,
• vomiting

It’s typical to have red eyes, flushed skin, a sore throat, and petechiae (red patches) on the palate. Jaundice and, in more severe cases, alterations in mood and sensory perception are other symptoms that might occur.

As the illness progresses, large areas of severe bruising, severe nosebleeds, and uncontrolled bleeding at injection sites can be seen, beginning on about the fourth day of illness and lasting for about two weeks. In documented outbreaks of CCHF, fatality rates in hospitalized patients have ranged from 9% to as high as 50%.

According to the World Health Organization, there is no vaccine available for either people or animals infected with the virus.

Treatment for CCHF is primarily supportive. Care should include careful attention to fluid balance and correction of electrolyte abnormalities, oxygenation, and hemodynamic support, and appropriate treatment of secondary infections. The virus is sensitive in vitro to the antiviral drug ribavirin. It has been used in the treatment of CCHF patients reportedly with some benefit.

The long-term effects of CCHF infection have not been studied well enough in survivors to determine whether or not specific complications exist. However, recovery is slow.

This information was taken from the websites of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.