Another young man tests positive for Congo virus at JPMC

Another young man from Karachi has tested positive for the deadly Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) officials said on Friday.

JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali told The News that the patient, 25-year-old Haider Ali, is a resident of Malir and said to be a caretaker of cattle and sacrificial animals.

“He was brought to JPMC yesterday with high-grade fever, body ache, bleeding from nose and mouth and other symptoms. Lab reports confirmed that he was infected with Congo virus,” said Dr Jamali.

She added that Ali was the 13th CCHF patient brought to the hospital this year. So far, three Congo fever patients have died at JPMC, while seven had survived the virus and been discharged.

Dr Jamali said three CCHF patients are still being treated at the hospital’s medical ICU. CCHF is a lethal viral infection that is transmitted to humans from animals, especially cattle and livestock. Since it is highly contagious, infected CCHF patients are kept in an isolation ward to prevent other patients as well as doctors and paramedics from contracting the lethal infection.

Patients from Karachi and Balochistan are being brought to JPMC, Dr Jamali said. According to her, patients suspected to have CCHF symptoms are taken to private hospitals in Karachi but when these hospitals realise that these patients can’t afford their treatment, they are sent to JPMC for treatment instead.

“We have to incur Rs10,000 for the laboratory test of the CCHF patient, while private hospitals charge heavily from the attendants of patients who are tested positive for the lethal disease,” she informed.

According to Sindh health department officials, dozens of people had tested positive for CCHF in Karachi this year, but owing to non-cooperation from many private hospitals, the exact number of such patients is not known. Officials said they had asked the livestock department to spray animals coming from Balochistan with insecticides as most of the CCHF-infected animals were coming from different areas of Balochistan and also asked all the health facilities in Karachi to update their Surveillance Cell to report the CCHF cases daily.

They added Minister for Health Dr Azra Pechuho had asked all the major public and private tertiary-care hospitals to provide data of 18-notifiable diseases daily, but only two private hospitals, Aga Khan University Hospital and Liaquat National Hospital, were doing so. The remaining hospitals were hiding the facts from the health department, officials said.