Crimean-Congo fever cases increase in Iran; one person dies

The head of the Human-Zone Transmissible Disease Management Group of the Iranian Ministry of Health announced that 13 people have been infected with Crimean-Congo fever. Two days ago, nine people were confirmed to have contracted the disease. So far, one person has died from the disease.

Behzad Amiri said that since 1999, when the first case of the disease was identified in Iran, 1,608 cases and 209 deaths from the disease have been recorded.

According to this Iranian Ministry of Health official, in 1400, 13 patients were identified, of which 2 died.

The head of Iran's Veterinary Organization has urged people to avoid consuming raw or semi-raw (juicy) meat and liver.

Illegal slaughter and transportation of meat products, buying and selling raw livestock products through unauthorized means, and unsanitary slaughter by untrained individuals are among the reasons for the increasing prevalence of this disease in the country.

Crimean-Congo fever has also spread in Iraq, with 111 cases identified and 19 deaths since January 2022.

Crimean-Congo fever is a tick-borne viral disease with a common origin between humans and livestock.

People who work with livestock and tissues, such as butchers and slaughterhouse workers, are at higher risk of infection than others.

Transmission of this disease from person to person can occur through close contact with the blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids of infected individuals.

The incubation period of the virus depends on how it is transmitted. After infection by a tick bite, the incubation period is usually one to three days and up to nine days. The incubation period after contact with infected blood or tissue is usually five to six days and up to 13 days.

This disease is accompanied by symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, dizziness, stiff neck, eye pain, sensitivity to light, and early in the infection, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

As the disease progresses, large areas of the body become bruised and the patient experiences severe nosebleeds, which begin approximately on the fourth day of the disease and last for about two weeks.

The mortality rate in hospitalized patients ranges from 9% to 50%.

The patient does not produce many antibodies early in the infection. Crimean-Congo fever is diagnosed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), antigen detection, serum neutralization, and reverse transcriptase-PCR.

The antiviral drug "Riavirin" is prescribed orally and by injection to treat this disease.

No vaccine has been designed to prevent this disease in either humans or animals.

Source: Voice of America