November 1, 2024

US Soldier Succumbs to Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

A 22 yr old soldier serving close to Kabul, Afganistan, has handed away after contracting the virus from a tick chunk.

The soldier from River Falls, Alabama, stands out as the first soldier who contracted the virus in response to a relative. “We’ve heard that he was going out into the countryside with some goat herdsmen, and he picked it up there 과로사.”

He was transferred to a hospital in Germany the place he had been in a coma for five days and on dialysis. He lastly handed away from a coronary heart assault final Wednesday.

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (C-CHF) is a tick borne viral an infection discovered broadly in Africa, Asia, the previous USSR, japanese Europe and the Center East.

The C-CHF virus circulates between wild and home animals; sheep, goats, cattle and hares, and are transmitted to people by the chunk from the Hyalomma tick chunk.

It’s often a self-limiting illness in sporadic instances however below epidemic situations fatality could also be as excessive as 50%.

After a incubation of 3-6 days the affected person experiences a sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, and body aches. Pink eyes, a flushed face, a purple throat, and petechiae (purple spots) on the palate are widespread.

In about 25% of instances, hemorrhage can happen with extreme nosebleeds and bruising. Remedy relies on supportive care.

Those who work with prone animals are in danger for C-CHF. Well being care staff are additionally in danger as a consequence of transmission by blood and doable airborne transmission.

There isn’t a vaccine for C-CHF. Preventive measures are utilizing DEET insect repellant and different strategies to forestall tick bites.