Third death in three weeks sows fear of Congo fever in city

Karachi: A young cattle trader, who had come to Karachi from Bahawalpur to sell goats for sacrifice on Eidul Azha, died of Congo fever at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Friday, health officials said, taking the death toll in the city to five this year and three in as many weeks.

“Allah Ditta, 22, a cattle trader and resident of Bakra Peeri, Malir, in Karachi was brought to the JPMC on the night of August 16 and 17 with high- grade fever. Doctors suspected him of being infected with Congo virus and admitted him to Ward 7 of the hospital,” said Dr Seemin Jamali, joint executive director of the JPMC, while talking The News. 

“The patient died today morning and his lab reports from Aga Khan confirmed that he was infected with Congo virus,” she said.

Unfortunately, despite being a suspected patient of the deadly virus, the man was kept in the general ward (Medicine Ward 7) instead of being shifted to one of the four isolation rooms in the ICU of Ward 23.

Hospital officials said the patient was brought with high-grade fever but he was not bleeding at the time of arrival. However, symptoms of his illness and his being associated with the cattle trade led to the suspicion that he could be infected with Congo virus, they said.

Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is caused by a virus which is found in a tick that is attached to cattle and animals. The virus transmits to humans when they come into contact with infected animals and the disease is so lethal that hardly anybody survives the infection.

Dr Zafar Mehdi, an official of the Sindh health department, confirmed the death of Allah Ditta, son of Elahi Bux. He added that a lab report from the Aga Khan University Hospital confirmed that the patient was suffering from Congo fever.

He said Ditta’s was the fifth death due to CCHF in Karachi this year, as earlier two patients from Afghanistan, one from Karachi and one doctor from Bahawalpur had died at hospitals in the city.

On August 11, a 65-year-old man died of CCHF at a private hospital. The Sindh government’s focal person confirmed the death of Abdul Hakeem, who hailed from Afghanistan and had been under treatment at the hospital.

On July 30, a senior registrar of Bahawal Victoria Hospital had died due to Congo viral infection last month in Karachi after he treated a Congo patient in Bahawalpur without taking any precautionary measures.

Why general ward?

Health officials at the JPMC confirmed to The News that despite being suspected a patient of the deadly contagious disease, Ditta was kept in the general ward along with other patients though the hospital had four isolation wards in the ICU in Ward 23.

“When the medical ICU people learnt that an infected patient with suspicion of Congo infection is being sent to their ward, they got scared and filled their isolation ward with common gastroenteritis patients,” an official of the JPMC claimed, adding that this compelled doctors to keep the suspected patient at the general ward.

Samiullah Gill, a leader of the Young Doctors Association (YDA), confirmed that the suspected patient was kept in the general ward and said he along with other doctors protested and asked the administration to shift him to an isolation ward, but the patient died before he could be transferred.

“We don’t know how many people, including other patients, doctors and paramedics, have been infected by the patient because he was kept with others in the general ward,” he added.