By NewsDesk @bactiman63

The World Health Organization (WHO) is reporting a Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Uganda.

Uganda
Image/Robert Herriman

The patient is a 23-year-old male, a lumber jack, from Kagadi district who developed a fever on January 7 and had self-medication for malaria without improvement. He has no history of getting in contact with slaughtered animal meat or bush meat.

He later developed generalized body weakness, abdominal pains and on January 20 followed by bleeding from the nose, vomiting and urinating blood. The bleeding increased and he was rushed to Kagadi hospital and isolated.

A sample was collected and transported to UVRI on 21 January and the results were positive for CCHF on the same day. Nine contacts were followed up as of 10 February 2020.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a widespread disease caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family. The CCHF virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of 10–40%.

Animals become infected by the bite of infected ticks and the virus remains in their bloodstream for about one week after infection, allowing the tick-animal-tick cycle to continue when another tick bites. Although a number of tick genera are capable of becoming infected with CCHF virus, ticks of the genus Hyalomma are the principal vector.

The CCHF virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter. The majority of cases have occurred in people involved in the livestock industry, such as agricultural workers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians. Human-to-human transmission is possible.