Congo virus claims another victim in Quetta

QUETTA: A woman succumbed to Congo virus in Quetta on Saturday, taking the death toll from the virus to 19 in the country this year.

The woman, named Fatima Bibi, was under treatment at Quetta’s Fatimah Jinnah TB sanatorium hospital. She had been brought to Quetta from the Kandahar area of Afghanistan three days ago when she had been suspected of carrying the virus and had been admitted to the hospital.

Fatima Bibi’s blood samples had been sent to laboratory, where they were confirmed to be affected by the virus. She died late Saturday.

12 people have died of the virus in Balochistan this year.

Death toll from the Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever or Congo virus in Pakistan has climbed to 19 this year, with five deaths reported in Karachi, twelve in Quetta and two in Bahawalpur.

On Friday, a 22-year-old patient Allah Ditta had died at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi.

With Eid-ul-Azha almost upon us, health experts are advising citizens to take special preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus.

According to them, healthcare workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Congo virus or handling specimens from them should implement standard infection control precautions.

These include basic hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment, safe injection practices and safe burial practices, Dr Wasim Khawaja a public health specialist at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said.

He said that to reduce the risk people should wear protective clothing like long sleeves or long trousers and wear light coloured clothing to allow easy detection of ticks on the clothes.

He said people should use approved chemicals intended to kill ticks on clothing use approved repellent on the skin and clothing regularly examine clothing and skin for ticks if found remove them and avoid areas where ticks are abundant and seasons when they are most active.

Meanwhile, the health department has so far also not distributed any gloves, jackets, and any other mandatory safety accessories for the handling of Congo virus patients at public-sector hospitals.

Congo virus is a widespread viral disease that is commonly spread by ticks found on hairy animals.

The situation needs extra attention as cattle markets are being set up across the country for public to buy sacrificial animals for the religious occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.