KMC issues advice to avoid contracting Congo virus

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s Health and Medical Services department issued a statement on Friday advising citizens to take up preventive measures against potentially contracting Congo virus when visiting cattle markets for Eidul Azha.

The statement read that visitors should cover their faces and hands and wear light coloured, full-sleeved shirts so that any tick is easily identifiable. Gloves should also be worn during inspection of sacrificial animals as well as at the time of the sacrifice, it added.

The department advised to limit contact with the animals as much as possible and to use insect repellants as protection against ticks but also warned against squeezing any tick as its infected blood can cause Congo virus. It also mentioned that eating and drinking water available at the cattle market should be avoided at all costs.

Butchers are advised to wear gloves while sacrificing the animals and sorting the meat, while after any contact with the animals, hands must be thoroughly washed. The statement further said that sites where animals are to be kept should have proper ventilation.

It is also advised that the water kept for animals should be properly stored and covered after being used. Sanitation at the site is also to be stressed while fumigation is recommended at places where collective sacrifice takes place. Finally, the statement mentioned that the blood and remnants of animals should be disposed of properly.