3 die in country's first 'Congo fever' outbreak

A rare disease known as Congo fever has claimed its first victims in India, officials said today, after a patient, her doctor and a nurse all died in the western state of Gujarat.

A rare disease known as Congo fever has claimed its first victims in India, officials said on Wednesday, after a patient, her doctor and a nurse all died in the western state of Gujarat.

HT Image

The deadly virus, which has the full name Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), is found in Africa, the Middle East and eastern Europe, and is normally spread by ticks.

"A woman was admitted to a private hospital here in the first week of January with high fever, abdominal pain and vomiting," Paresh Dave, Gujarat's assistant director of health, said.

"The hospital could not diagnose the disease and after few days she died."The doctor treating the 30-year-old woman died last week and the staff nurse died on Tuesday, he said.Samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, which confirmed CCHF.

A doctor who declined to be named said the deaths were India's first recorded Congo fever fatalities.Specialist teams from the NIV have flown to Gujarat to monitor any further outbreak of the disease, which can be passed between animals and humans.It has mortality rate of 30 percent in humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"The orders have been communicated to all hospitals."WHO said most CCHF cases occur in people in close contact with animals, such as farmers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians. The disease's full name comes from its having been identified in the Crimea in 1944 and in 1956 in the Congo.