INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Health officials at Takhar Central Hospital say over the past month, they have recorded three positive cases of Congo fever and that one of
the three died from the disease.Officials said the other two were transferred to Antani Hospital in Kabul for treatment.The officials also
said that they are doing everything possible to curb the spread of the disease.&We are fully prepared because this disease is not new, and
we have better measures in Takhar provincial hospital than in the past,& said Hayatullah Emami, director of Takhar Provincial Hospital.With
the increase of Congo fever, the Public Health Directorate and partner institutions have created awareness teams who go out to inform people
about the disease.Congo fever & or Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever & is a viral haemorrhagic fever that is usually transmitted by ticks but
it can also be contracted through contact with animal tissues during and immediately post-slaughter of animals.Congo fever outbreaks
constitute a threat to public health services as the virus can lead to epidemics, has a high case fatality ratio (10&40%), potentially
results in hospital and health facility outbreaks, and is difficult to prevent and treat.Some residents of Takhar, expressing their concern
over the increase of the disease, say that people should observe hygiene and that the government should speed up the awareness
process.According to doctors, nausea, heartache, diarrhea, internal and external bleeding, neck and eye pain are the main symptoms of Congo
fever.Last month, two patients died of Congo fever in Abu Ali Sinai Balkhi Hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif city, while 10 cases were confirmed in
Faryab and Jawzjan.The post Congo fever claims another life, this time in Takhar province first appeared on Ariana News.
