March 6, 2002	Wednesday	Zilhaj 21, 1422

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

MUZAFFARABAD, March 5: AJK government on Monday described the situation “satisfying and under control” with regard to the suspected cases of the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The assertion is based on negative reports of almost all patients who had reported or had been referred to the hospitals with symptoms suspecting their infection by the deadly virus.

AJK Health Minister Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan told Dawn that two patients who were referred to the Rawalakot Combined Military Hospital on Saturday with haematemesis and epistaxis were home with no signs of their suffering from the CCHF virus.

The two other admitted patients, Mohammad Farooq and his seven-year-old daughter, Musarrat, who were being administered anti-viral medicines were also rapidly recovering, he said.

They were brought to the hospital from a remote village in Sudhnoti district on Thursday with high fever and haematuria. Another daughter of Farooq, nine-year-old Saima, had died at home on Wednesday under the same conditions.

“But I tell you that on the whole there is nothing to be worried about as the situation is under control,” the minister claimed.

The federal government has also sent a virologist from the army’s medical corps, Col Dr Waheeduz Zaman Tariq, to Rawalakot to help the CMH staff in treating the suspected patients.

A two-member World Health Organization team had also toured Azad Kashmir from Thursday to Sunday to locate the source of infection and educate the health personnel on the preventive measures to be taken during the treatment of suspected patients.

The team, comprising epidemiologist Dr Faizullah Kakar and Dr Zafar from the National Institute of Health, also visited the house in Bagh of Salma Begum, from whom the house officer of the Holy Family Hospital, Dr Farzana Altaf, had allegedly contracted the fatal virus.

But the AJK health department officials are doubtful about the existence of any link between her and Dr Farzana. According to them, so far none of the relatives of Salma Begum has developed any symptoms of the disease, although more than two weeks have elapsed since her death.

The WHO team collected blood samples of around 24 people who had remained in close contact with Salma Begum during her illness and burial rites.

The samples were sent to the NIH from where they would be dispatched to laboratories in South Africa.

Meanwhile, the AJK minister has also constituted a task force, headed by Health Services Director Dr Mushtaq Gardezi, to study all the cases in order to find the roots of the disease besides looking into treatment and management of the suspected patients. Its members are: Col Waheeduz Zaman Tariq, Rawalakot CMH Commanding officer Col Mohammad Abbas, Poonch DHO Dr Sardar Shabbir and WHO operation officer for AJK, Dr Khushhal Zaman.

The task force members on Monday visited the house of Mohammad Farooq after a walk of about two hours and took tea with his family members to dispel impression among the residents of the hilly area that there was anything to be worried about.