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10 people, including an ambulance crew, were hospitalized in Southern Kazakhstan Oblast on suspicions of carrying a deadly virus on Monday, June 23, Tengrinews reports citing IA Novosti-Kazakhstan.
Spokesman for the South Kazahstan Oblast Department of Emergency Situations Nurlan Temirbayev said that Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) was the probable cause.
Temirbayev informed that the day before a woman fell very sick. Her relatives called an ambulance for immediate help. During examination, the doctors noticed that the woman's hand had livid spots that looked like traces of a tick bite. Ticks are frequent transmitters of CCHF. The woman was hospitalized along with nine other people – the ambulance crew, who were first to respond to the emergency call, and the woman’s close relatives, who lived with her in the same house.
Later on Monday, the diagnosis of CCHF was confirmed by a laboratory test, as stated by Deputy Head of the Department of Consumer Protection of Southern Kazakhstan Oblast Zhumagul Medetov.
"The presence of the virus has been confirmed by laboratory tests. The 31-year-old resident of Akbastau village in Kazygurt district was taken to the central district hospital's intensive care unit. Her medical condition is assessed as serious but stable. Her one-year-old child has been hospitalized as well,” Medetov said.
This is the first case of a person being hospitalized in connection with CCHF in South Kazakhstan. Emergency Department employees are going to hold community meetings with the citizens to introduce them again to the first signs of CCHF and teach them how to act to protect themselves against the infection.
According to WTO, CCHF has a high fatality ratio of 10 to 40 percent and is difficult in treatment and prevention. It is endemic in Asia south of the 50° parallel north, the Balkans, the Middle East and all of Africa. Some of the symptoms include sudden muscle ache with fever, dizziness, neck and back pain, sore eyes and sensitivity to light.
By Dinara Urazova
