The Health Department in Pakistan’s Sindh province has confirmed this year’s first case of the life-threatening Congo virus in Karachi, media reports said on Sunday. According to health officials, Muhammad Adil, a 28-year-old resident of Nazimabad, visited the Ziauddin Hospital as an outpatient on Thursday this week. Qasim Siraj Soomro, the parliamentary secretary on health said that the health facility took samples from the patient and sent them to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), where the laboratory results confirmed that he had contracted the Congo virus, Express Tribune reported.
Soomro said the Health Department received the results on Sunday evening and immediately sent a team to Adil`s residence to bring him to the Infectious Disease Hospital. This is the first case of Congo virus in the country this year, and medical experts have warned that the virus is very dangerous as it can cause bleeding at very early stages, Express Tribune reported.
While the symptoms of the Congo virus are similar to those of dengue fever, they can quickly become life-threatening. The Health Department has urged citizens to take precautions to avoid contracting the virus, such as wearing protective clothing and using insect repellents when in contact with cattle or other livestock.
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The Congo virus, or the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), is primarily transmitted to humans by ticks on cattle and other livestock, and can cause severe fever, muscle pain, vomiting, and internal bleeding.
It has a high fatality rate, and there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus, Express Tribune reported.
