A section of Fort Portal Town, Uganda. Health authorities in the country
have confirmed a case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the area.
PHOTO | FELIX BASIIME | NMG
Uganda confirmed Tuesday a case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic
fever (CCHF) near its western border with the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Health officials said samples taken from a
patient at the Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital in Kabarole
District — about 10 km from the DRC border — tested positive for the
fever.
The patient, a woman, was placed in isolation at the facility.
Dr
Richard Mugahi, the Kabarole District director of health services, said
a search for all individuals suspected to have been in contact with the
patient was ongoing.
Teams from the ministry of health, agriculture and livestock have been sent to the area to contain the outbreak.
The disease is caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).
The virus is transmitted to people from ticks and livestock.
Human-to-human transmission occurs from close contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons.
The virus can cause severe viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks.
It has a no vaccine or cure and has an average fatality rate is around 30 percent, varying from 10 percent to 40 percent, according to the WHO.
The
UN health agency recommends similar guidelines for infection control as
those of other haemorrhagic fevers - Ebola and Marburg.
CCHF is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asian countries.
It was discovered in Crimea in 1944 and recognised in 1969 as having caused illness in the Congo in 1956.
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