Authorities in Senegal are reporting a case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a illness transmitted by ticks and contaminated animals that leads to dying in as much as 40% of instances.
The Ministry of Well being of Senegal stated the case was confirmed in a 35-year-old butcher residing in Guédiawaye, simply northeast of Dakar, after he reported fever and flu-like signs. The person died final week.
Public well being measures are being taken, in response to an replace from the World Well being Group (WHO).
CCHF, a hemorrhagic illness just like Ebola, causes about 500 fatalities annually, in response to WHO. It’s endemic in all of Africa, in addition to the Center East and Asia. Its presence in jap Europe was first recognized in Crimea within the Forties, with a later discovery making the connection to the identical an infection discovered within the Congo River basin.
About 70% of individuals recognized with CCHF have a historical past of a tick chew. Though the illness is transmitted to people from ticks and animals, it’s attainable for outbreaks of human-to-human instances to emerge, as was the case final yr in Iraq. Uganda reported eight instances between June and December 2022.
Circumstances related to butcher retailers, together with cattle, sheep, goats and ostrich are usually not unusual, with WHO recommending masks and different private protecting gear for individuals who work as butchers. It’s additionally really helpful that animals be quarantined and handled with flea and tick pesticides earlier than slaughter.
There may be not but a vaccine to stop CCHF, though one has been tried in jap Europe on a small scale, WHO stated.
Picture: EPA/Patrick Pleul through WHO
