CONGO FEVER

According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus was first reported in Crimea in 1944 and then later in Congo in Africa in 1969.

Symptoms are similar to those of common viral fevers such as headache, back pain, joint pain, stomach pain, vomiting, red eyes and high fever.

People who are at risk of exposure to the virus are mostly livestock workers, animal herders and those employed in slaughterhouses.

Some of the diagnostic tests used to confirm the virus are antigen detection, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and serum neutralisation.

Since no vaccine exists either for humans or animals, treatment is currently restricted to supportive care for symptoms.

World Health Organisation (WHO) proposes a slew of preventive steps to reduce transmission such as wearing long-sleeved protective clothing, using repellents on skin and clothing and quarantining animals

It is caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family

CCHF virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever and it can be transmitted from one infected person to another by contact with infectious blood or body fluids.

The disease is highly contagious, with a 40% mortality rate.

CCHF as it is commonly known, is caused by the bite of a tick found in cattle.

The virus causing CCHF is primarily transmitted to people from ticks (of the genus Hyalomma) and livestock animals and is endemic to West Asia and Asia 

CCHF was first reported in India in Gujarat in hospital settings in 2011

Congo fever, a highly infectious disease which spreads through the aerosol route, has no known treatment as yet

The CCHF virus has earlier been reported from Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Pakistan

The virus is said to be highly infectious and causes multi-organ failures after affecting the brain, resulting in convulsions.

It developed thrombocytopenia (fall in blood platelet count) and showed haemorrhagic manifestations.

The length of the incubation period depends on the mode of acquisition of the virus.

The incubation period following contact with infected blood or tissues is usually five to six days, with a documented maximum of 13 days.

Onset of symptoms is sudden, with fever, myalgia, dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, backache, headache, sore eyes and photophobia.

There may be nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and sore throat early on, followed by sharp mood swings and confusion.

After two to four days, the agitation may be replaced by sleepiness, depression and lassitude, and the abdominal pain may localize to the upper right quadrant, with detectable hepatomegaly.

DIAGNOSIS

1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) ;
2. Antigen detection;
3. Serum neutralization;
4. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay; and
5. Virus isolation by cell culture.

88% of people infected will have subclinical symptoms. One in eight people will develop a severe disease.