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Turkey says Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever has killed 10 people so far this year
(AP)
ANKARA, Turkey: An outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Turkey has sickened 172 people and killed 10 of them so far this year, the Health Ministry said Thursday.Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, also known by its acronym CCHF, mainly affects animals. Ticks, which live on sheep and cattle, can sometimes pass the virus to people.
CCHF is an Ebola-like fever where patients can bleed to death if they are not treated quickly. Those infected can transmit the virus through their blood or saliva. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe
Last year, 27 of the 438 people in Turkey who contracted the disease died, the Health Ministry has said.
Health authorities said a warmer climate, which Turkey has experienced in recent years, could mean a larger tick population that could in turn infect more people with the disease.
Authorities at the World Health Organization said earlier this month that they did not believe there was anything unusual about the outbreak at the moment, since CCHF occurs regularly in Turkey.
Turkey’s first known outbreak of the disease was in 2002 and the country since has adopted stronger surveillance systems, which may account for the increased number of reported cases.
The Health Ministry has used acaracide, a chemical used against parasites, to reduce the tick population in the Black Sea and Central Anatolia regions, where more than 90 percent of the cases have been reported.
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