Muzaffarabad: Health officials in Pakistan's Kashmir said on Saturday that authorities were testing for a suspected outbreak of the potentially deadly Congo virus among survivors of last October's devastating earthquake.
The suspected cases were found in Nauseri village, 40 km northeast of Muzaffarabad. "We suspect an outbreak of Congo virus in the area and we have dispatched a special team there to assess the situation," Sardar Mahmood Ahmed Khan, district health officer in Muzaffarabad, told Reuters.
"We received three persons with symptoms suggesting they had contracted the viral haemorrhagic fever," Khan added. Congo virus is found in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia and belongs to the same family as the deadly Ebola virus found in Africa.
Doctors say people contract the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock, and they can also become infected from a tick bite.
Rashad Akhundov, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, said eight patients suffering from high fever and altered consciousness had been referred to the aid agency's health centre in the city.
"We cannot confirm Congo fever but they have been transferred from Muzaffarabad and are on their way to Islamabad," Akhundov said.
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