Quetta teenager tests positive for Congo virus

A teenager from Quetta has contracted the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and is being treated in the isolation ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

“Nineteen-year-old Muhammad Iqbal was brought to the JPMC with a bleeding nose and mouth on Wednesday,” the hospital’s executive director, Dr Seemin Jamali, told The News on Thursday. “His tests from a private laboratory have confirmed that he is infected with the CCHF virus. We are treating him in the isolation ward.”

The CCHF is caused when a person comes into contact with the deadly virus that is found in ticks present on the bodies of cattle and some other animals. People dealing with such animals, including shepherds, butchers and dairy farmers, are at a higher risk of contracting the disease, which has a mortality rate of up to 40 per cent.

Two people, a resident of Lyari Town and a middle-aged woman from Mianwali, died in Karachi in April and May due to complications of the CCHF. JPMC doctors said the teenaged patient from Quetta is in a serious condition, as his platelets have dropped to an alarmingly low level, and despite undergoing treatment, he is in a critical state.

“The patient is a bus conductor by profession and has no history of dealing with cattle or other animals,” said Dr Seemin. “We are trying our level best to save his life by providing him the best available treatment.”

According to experts, patients of the CCHF need to be kept in isolation wards, and doctors and paramedical staff should adopt extreme precautionary measures to avoid contracting the disease themselves, as in several past cases the caregivers have fallen victim to the lethal virus. JPMC officials said they have provided the necessary protective gear and equipment to the staff who are treating the Quetta teenager, and made the assurance that the virus will be contained.

According to epidemiologists, Quetta is a hub of the Congo virus, as several people contract the viral disease due to movement of cattle from Afghanistan. They said that last year at least five patients, all of whom were from Quetta’s Satellite Town, had died at the JPMC due to the CCHF.

Due to the lack of treatment and diagnostic facilities, majority of the patients are brought to Karachi and are mostly referred to the JPMC, the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Liaquat National Hospital, where they are kept in isolation wards and provided with the necessary treatment.