Kabul [Afghanistan], August 20 : Afghanistan's Kunduz province has recorded 28 cases of Crimean-Congo fever in 2023, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported citing Kunduz Public Health Department.
Three people have died due to Crimean-Congo fever in Kunduz province, the report stated.
Najibullah Sahil, Taliban-appointed Director of Kunduz Public Health, has created a special department for treating Congo fever at the infectious diseases hospital.
Sahil said, "We were fully prepared before the Congo fever [outbreak]; we activated the infectious disease hospital, and all services are free," Khaama Press reported.
He further said, "Whatever the patients need; medicines, food … all these are free, so there are no problems, and people should not worry."
Earlier, Herat province reported 36 cases of Crimean-Congo fever. Five people died due to Crimean-Congo fever in Afghanistan, according to Khaama Press report. Takhar province of Afghanistan reported three cases of Congo fever and one of the three patients died.
Congo fever, a viral disease, is commonly spread from animals to humans through ticks. The symptoms of the disease include fever, heartburn, diarrhoea, internal and external bleeding, neck discomfort, and eye pain.
The virus can potentially cause epidemics and is related to a significant case fatality rate ranging between 10 per cent to 40 per cent, according to Khaama Press report. The virus can cause outbreaks within hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Earlier in July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a report revealed that cases of Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) have highly increased in the month of June, TOLO News reported. The cases of diarrhea also spiked in Afghanistan.
“The CCHF-associated deaths were reported from 12 provinces (13 from Kabul, 6 from Balkh, 3 from Parwan, 3 from Takhar, 2 from Jawzjan, 2 from Kandahar, and 1 each from Baghlan, Faryab, Ghazni, Kapisa, Paktya, and Sar-i-Pul),” TOLO News cited the data from the WHO report.
The report stated that 1.4 million people were reached with humanitarian health care in various regions of Afghanistan in June. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the country is under the grip of a humanitarian and economic crisis.
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