2 Ghazni residents die of suspected Congo virus: official

KABUL ministry official said on Saturday.

Mohammad Hafeez Rasouli, head of the ministry’s human and animal joint diseases, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had registered some suspected Congo virus cases over the past few days.

He said a patient was delivered to hospital from Ghazni with severe fever on September 11 and he died the same day and the virus was transferred to his two relatives who carried him to the hospital.

He said a second patient died on September 15, while a third one was under treatment and in stable condition.

Ahead of Eid-ul-Adha, health officials had expressed concern over the spread of Congo virus in the country and had asked the countrymen to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the deadliest virus.

Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz termed Congo virus a challenge and said 12 percent of Afghans had lost their lives to the virus.

Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a widespread tick-borne viral disease that is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia.

The virus is a member of the Bunyaviridae family of RNA viruses. It is a zoonotic disease carried by several domestic and wild animals.

Nh/ma