Published Date: 2001-03-31 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Crimean-Congo HF, suspected - Pakistan (NW Frontier)
Archive Number: 20010331.0652
CRIMEAN-CONGO HF, SUSPECTED - PAKISTAN (NW FRONTIER)
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See Also
2000------
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) 20000925.1651
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Pakistan (Baluchistan) (07) 20001122.2027
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:36:24 -0500
From: Chotani, Rashid A. <Rashid.Chotani@jhuapl.edu>
Source: Dawn Internet 30 Mar 2001 [edited
Hectic efforts to identify deadly virus in North West Frontier Province
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Peshawar, March 30: Doctors at the Khyber Teaching Hospital and medical
experts from the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, and the World
Health Organization are making hectic efforts to [identify the virus that
killed a man and his son within a week and attacked a third person of the
same family. [They hope to contain its further spread by spelling out
precautionary measures for the people. The virus is believed to be deadly
[Crimean- Congo virus, which killed a patient from the Waziristan Agency
and his doctor at the Khyber Teaching Hospital last year.
The third [case in the current incident is being kept in a separate room
and only a doctor and 2 attendants are allowed to visit him. According to a
press release issued by the Peshawar district health officer here on
Friday, the condition of [the doctor, who came in direct contact with the
affected people and was admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital, and the
patient admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, was satisfactory.
The medical experts have advised the people to avoid direct contact with
the patients and safely dispose of their excreta and other used articles,
and burn the patients' clothes. The WHO and NIH teams have also supplied
medicines to the patients. The people have been advised to report any
suspected case to the authorities immediately.
Authorities at the 2 major hospitals in the provincial metropolis have
taken several precautionary measures to prevent the fatal disease from
spreading further. Well-placed sources at the Lady Reading Hospital said
that the virus was caused by cattle [in fact, it is transmitted by ticks
from all kinds of livestock to humans - Mod.JW, adding that the people who
were most prone to contract the virus were those who used to wash their
goats and sheep. He said the blood samples of the suspected people and
others who came into direct contact with the patients had been sent to the
United States for screening and diagnosing the virus.
[Byline: Mahmood Khattak
--
RA Chotani, MD, MPH
Johns Hopkins University
443-778-4452
<Rashid.Chotani@jhuapl.edu>
.............................jw/sh
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