Even as a six-member team from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday visited the areas around Ahmedabad that were affected by the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus, the Gujarat government has confirmed two more cases.
The two include the husband of Ameena, who died of the disease earlier this month, and a staff of the private hospital where she was treated. Both were under observation as they developed the Congo virus symptoms. Necessary instructions for isolation and precautions were issued.
Surveillance activity was being continued in the affected area; 38,570 people were surveyed so far, said a Ministry of Health and Family Welfare spokesperson.
The State Animal Husbandry Department was also continuing surveillance among domestic animals, and as many as 251 veterinary samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune and the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal.
Keywords: Congo virus, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever
Comments:
It is important at this juncture, in the larger public interest, that a thorough survey of the affected areas should be conducted to 1.identify the animal hosts of the CCH virus , 2.the vectors (ticks)involved in the transmission of the virus, 3.possible reasons of the introduction of the virus in India for the first time , 4.ecological factors that might have contributed to the spillage of infection from animals to man. If this work is done at this stage in right earnest we should be able to take preventive action against the spread of the virus to other parts of the country.