According to the WHO, the mortality rate for CCHF is 30 percent.
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By: Kimberly Rodrigues
A man in Spain has been diagnosed and hospitalized with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) after being bitten by a tick, reports The Sun.
The virus is reported to be deadly and cause its victims to bleed from the eyes. It also supposedly kills 30 percent of those it infects.
The patient, who has not been named, was hospitalized last week in Leon, in northwestern Spain.
CCHF is endemic in many countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It was reportedly first discovered in Crimea (Eastern Europe) in 1944 and was therefore initially called Crimean hemorrhagic fever.
But in 1969 it was also found to be the cause of the disease in the Congo, which is why the name of the disease was changed to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
In recent years, outbreaks have also been reported in Russia, Turkey, Iran, Albania, Pakistan and southern Africa.
The disease is said to be caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) and can be carried by ticks. It can also be collected from cattle, goats and sheep.
The mortality rate for CCHF is 30 percent, says the WHO.
However, according to the Spanish authorities, the patient “remains in a stable condition, despite the clinical severity involved in this pathology”.
In March this year, a British woman was diagnosed with CCHF, after traveling to Central Asia. This was reported to be the fourth UK case since 2012.
She was reportedly diagnosed in Cambridge and received treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Before the case that was detected in Cambridge, two other cases of CCHF were also reported in the UK, the Sun said.
The last case was in 2014, and before that, it was in 2012.
After a person is bitten by an infected tick, it can take one to three days for symptoms to appear. However, the incubation period is said to be five to six days and can be up to 13 days, if an individual comes into contact with infected blood or body tissues.
Symptoms of infection include bleeding, especially in the eyes and skin, fever, mood changes, confusion, aches, dizziness, headache, eye pain, neck pain and stiffness, muscle aches and sensitivity to light .
People infected with the virus can also experience stomach ache, sore throat, diarrhea, sickness and vomiting, The Sun reported.
After two to four days of being infected, mood swings and confusion are said to be replaced by drowsiness and depression.
Other signs may include:
• A fast heart rate
• Enlarged glands and rash (caused by bleeding into the skin)
• Severe nosebleeds and gums
Those seriously ill with the infection will experience rapid kidney failure and sudden liver and heart failure. This is supposed to happen about five days after falling ill.
The disease can be transmitted to humans through ticks or if humans come into contact with the blood of infected animals.
Person-to-person transmission is also possible. This happens when a person comes into contact with the blood and body fluids of a person infected with CCHF.
According to The Sun, signs of infection often come on suddenly, with many who succumb to the virus within two weeks of diagnosis.
Earlier in March this year, Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK’s Health Safety Agency, said the virus “does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the public is very low.”
Treatment for those with the disease includes careful attention to patients’ fluid intake.
Electrolyte balance should also be monitored, say experts at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The antiviral drug ribavirin is reportedly being used in some patients to help their recovery, as the virus is said to be sensitive to this drug.