35-year old woman dies of Congo virus

Author: Agencies

A 35-year-old woman, resident of Orangi Town died after being diagnosed with the Congo virus at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital.

It is the first death due to Congo virus in the metropolis in the current year of 2019.

The victim, Tazeen Faizan was admitted to Jinnah Hospital a day ago after it was confirmed she had contracted the virus, Executive Director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Dr Seemi Jamali said.

DrJamali said, last year 41 people were diagnosed with the disease and the most of them belonged to Quetta, Balochistan, she said.

Seemi Jamali said at least 16 people died from Congo last year in Karachi.

A case of Congo virus was reported from the metropolis in September last year. A resident of Safoora Goth, Pervaiz who is 20-year-old was diagnosed with the Congo virus. He was taken to Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital after symptoms of Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) started appearing.

The disease is caused when a tick attaches itself to the skin of cattle and when that infected tick or animal come in contact with people, the highly contagious virus is transmitted into the human body and the person falls ill.

This disease has 40-50 per cent mortality rate. The initial symptoms of CCHF include headache, high fever, rashes, back pain, joint pain, stomach pain, and vomiting.

Published in Daily Times, February 13^th2019.