Two persons, including the husband of the 30-year-old woman who died of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever recently at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, have tested positive for the fatal virus causing the disease, Gujarat health officials said on Friday.
"Rehman, husband of the woman who died due to CCHF, has tested positive for the virus causing the disease. Also, one male staff nurse of the private hospital in the city where Amina was undergoing treatment has tested positive," said Additional Director (Health), Dr Paresh Dave.
Dave said their test reports were received on Friday and the condition of the infected duo was stable. They are undergoing treatment under isolation at government hospitals, he said. On Thursday, 58 samples (from humans), collected from Kolat village had tested negative for CCHF, he said.
"We have sent 132 more samples to the National Institute of Virology. Their results are awaited," Dave added.
Amina Momin of Kolat village in Sanand taluka, about 35 kms from Ahmedabad, was the first CCHF casualty. The doctor and nurse of a private hospital who treated her also contracted the virus and died after a week, when the disease surfaced in India.
Meanwhile, the six member team from the National Centre for Disease Control, which had arrived in Ahmedabad on Thursday, has began consultations with state officials to plan the next course of action and steps needed to be taken to prevent the spread of CCHF.
According to health officials, a state team of doctors and veterinarians are still surveying the nearby villages of Kolat from where the first case of CCHF was recorded. Animal husbandry department officials said that most of the animals in Kolat and nearby areas have been treated with disinfectants to kill the ticks.
The CCHF infection is primarily found in animals and it is caused by tick-based virus. It may infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals. Humans who become infected with CCHF acquire the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock. They can get it from a tick bite also.
