Iraq records 24 deaths of Congo fever

On Monday, the Federal Ministry of Health announced that 142 cases of Congo fever had been recorded.

According to the ministry's spokesman Saif al-Badr, the number of deaths and infections with Congo fever has increased throughout Iraq.

"The ministry has recorded 142 cases, including 24 deaths," he revealed.

The Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever, also known as Congo fever, is tick-borne and causes severe hemorrhaging. 

People are often infected after they come into contact with the blood of infected animals, often after slaughtering livestock. The symptoms of the disease in its first stage include high temperature, lethargy, and various pains in the body and abdomen in particular.

Congo fever has been endemic to Iraq since 1979, according to World Health Organization (WHO). It can be transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infectious blood or body fluids.

The disease existed in Iraq with only 20 cases or less in a year, but this year, the country has recorded over 100 cases so far, prompting authorities to take measures to control the disease spread.

Kirkuk recorded the first case of hemorrhagic fever death on May 7.



PUKmedia