Congo-fever checks for medics

2006-01-19 19:12

Bloemfontein - Staff at a Bloemfontein hospital who have come into contact with a Free State woman who died of Congo fever would be monitored for symptoms for up to a month, said a hospital official on Thursday.

Esmarie Cronjé said no one had reported any symptoms at this stage.

A specialist physician and some personnel were placed under observation after test results on Tuesday confirmed that Congo fever was responsible for the death of Mercia Erasmus, 51, on Sunday.

Erasmus was apparently bitten by a tick in December last year on her farm near Petrusburg.

She was admitted to hospital on Monday last week with severe vomiting.

Her husband was also under observation, but had not shown any symptoms yet.

Causes bleeding in patients

Cronjé reportedly said there was no danger to the public at the hospital as the virus could be spread only through contact with the fresh blood of an infected person.

The Free State department of health had been informed on Tuesday about the situation.

Congo fever is a viral infection that causes bleeding in patients, according to information on the disease from the department of virology at Universitas Hospital.

Hyaloma ticks, the main arachnid that spreads the disease from animals to humans, are dark brown to black in colour with red to orange brown-and-white banded legs.

In some cases, humans can also pick up the virus if an infected tick is crushed between the fingers.

- SAPA