Congo fever claims life of Orangi resident

A 34-year-old man died due to Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) at Aga Khan University Hospital on Saturday, Sindh Health Department Officials said.

Dr Zafar Mehdi, the focal person of the health department on infectious and viral diseases, told The News that it was the 6th death due to CCHF in Karachi this year.

“Ahmed Jahanzeb, 34, was a resident of Orangi Town who died yesterday at AKUH because of CCHF,” Dr Zafar Mehdi said, adding that the hospital notified them about the death on Saturday.

Two confirmed cases of CCHF are already under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) while several suspected patients have been admitted o various public and private hospitals in the city, health officials said.

On Friday, officials at the JPMC had confirmed having a second patient with Congo fever from Quetta, Balochistan, saying that now two patients suffering from the deadly disease were under treatment at the health facility.

“Sixteen-year-old Abdus Saboor is from Quetta was brought to the JPMC with high-grade fever, headache, bruises on the body and bleeding from nose and mouth. Lab reports confirmed that he was infected with Congo Crimean virus,” Executive Director JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali told the News.

She said that earlier a 65-year old man, who was identified as Dost Muhammad, was brought to the JPMC from Quetta and he also tested positive for Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever. Both the patients are under treatment at an isolation ward in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the JPMC, Dr Jamali said, adding that they were being given symptomatic and anti-viral drugs for recovery.