Media reports have claimed that 75 people, including 8 who have died, have been infected with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus in Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan.
The WHO Country Office in Pakistan and its team in Quetta, and the WHO Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region have investigated this report. Their findings follow: This week, a hospital in Quetta opened a new ward specifically for managing CCHF patients since cases occur each year in the region.
As soon as the ward was open, 4 suspected cases were transferred or referred by other health care providers to the new ward. All the cases were from Pakistan, had disease onset within the past week and were not linked. As per the usual procedure, samples have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.The total number of suspected CCHF cases reported in Pakistan in 2001 is 41 cases with 12 deaths (onset March to October). An additional 6 cases with 2 deaths (onset May to August) were persons infected in Afghanistan who were treated in Pakistan. In summary, these recent cases exhibit the typical pattern for this endemic disease. CCHF is a viral haemorrhagic fever, primarily a zoonosis, although sporadic cases and small outbreaks of CCHF affecting humans do occur. It is endemic in the area (see Disease Outbreak News Report: 8 May 1998 - Afghanistan; Pakistan). The virus is transmitted by argasid or ixodid ticks. With cooler weather approaching, virus transmission is expected to end within several weeks