Farmer battles Congo fever
2008-07-15 22:55
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Cape Town - The provincial health department says a farmer and professional hunter from Adelaide in the Eastern Cape is in a critical condition after being diagnosed with Crimea-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said on Tuesday that the man, 39, was admitted to the Adelaide hospital on July 12, and transferred to St George's private hospital in Port Elizabeth the next day.
The department planned to move him to the state-run Livingstone hospital in the city, where there was a specialised isolation unit.
"His situation is extremely serious and he's in a critical condition," Kupelo said.
The diagnosis, received from the National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) this week, was preliminary and confirmation would be available on Wednesday.
The viral disease, transmitted to humans by ticks or contact with blood or tissue from infected animals, is potentially fatal.
Commonest range of haemorrhagic fevers
Kupelo said the man was reportedly bitten by a tick on July 3 and went to see a doctor for the first time four days later.
Three days after that he developed a range of typical fever symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and joint pains.
The department was sending an outbreak response team to the Adelaide area to trace the man's contacts and check what medical assistance might be necessary.
The fever is the commonest of a range of haemorrhagic fevers that occur in South Africa.
According to the NICD, anything between five and 25 cases are reported each year, most of them in the Karoo, the Western Free State, the Northern Cape and North West Province.
Most of the sufferers are farmers, farm labourers, hunters or abattoir workers.
Symptoms include fever, aching muscles, dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, headache, sore eyes, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, nose bleeding, and other non-normal bleeding.
According to the World Health Organisation, one in three sufferers dies from the disease.
There is no safe and effective vaccine widely available for human use.
- SAPA