(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News) KABUL (Pajhwok): At least 18 cases of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) infection have recently been detected in Afghanistan, taking this year€™s total cases to 267 compared to 244 cases last year.
The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is caused by infection with a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) in the family Bunyaviridae. The disease was first characterized in Crimea in 1944 and given the name Crimean hemorrhagic fever.
The onset of CCHF is sudden, with initial signs and symptoms including headache, high fever, back pain, joint pain, stomach pain, and vomiting. Red eyes, a flushed face, a red throat, and petechiae (red spots) on the palate are common.
Dr. Shah Wali Marufi, in charge of preventing communicable diseases in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), told Pajhwok Afghan News that Congo virus cases increased each year during Eidul Adha days when people sacrifice animals.
He said so far 18 CCHF infection cases have been detected since the first day of Eidul Adha (August 21), raising the number of the virus cases to 267 this year.
Most of the CCHF cases were detected in Kabul and western Herat province, Marufi said, without providing more details.
According to MoPH, 33 percent of those infected with the Congo virus this year were women and the rest men including butchers, shepherds, cooks and others.
The ministry says 32 of the patients have died. The first case of the disease in Afghanistan was found in 2013.
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