KARACHI: A teenage boy succumbed to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the city on Thursday as the provincial health authorities released an alert over dangers of the lethal infection days before Eidul Azha.

The young boy, 15-year-old Faiz Islam, a resident of Malir, succumbed to the disease at the Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi becoming the seventh CCHF victim this year.

An official at the hospital confirmed that the boy died of the dangerous tick.

He added that the patient suffered from high-grade fever and nasal bleeding when he was brought to the hospital’s emergency on Wednesday night.

Doctors said the boy had handled sacrificial animal at home.

The officials at the health ministry said some 13 people had been reported in private and public hospitals of the city with the deadly infection — four of them came from outside Karachi.

Meanwhile, the health ministry asked the relevant authorities to take measures to save people in the teeming metropolis from the deadly disease.

The lethal disease has begun afflicting people already and killed dozens in the past few years, the officials added.

In a directive, the government asked the authorities concerned to specify points for inspection of animals away from the populous localities and proper sites be allocated for animal markets.

As part of preventive measures, the city’s healthcare authorities asked the veterinary department of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to make sure that no infected animal was allowed to enter the city’s animal markets.

“This is one of the many measures we are taking to ensure no further loss of precious lives in future,” said a senior official.

The officials said the authorities were told to inspect animals at the toll plaza in Karachi or at the entry points of every other city of Sindh.

In Karachi, the municipal authorities have been asked to ensure proper sanitation at the site of animal markets and make available proper supply of drinking water.

“Water should be stored and covered properly and veterinary camps be placed prominently with inspecting officials wearing gloves,” said the directive.

The KMC asked the visitors to the markets to wear clothes with light colours so that infected ticks from animals could be spotted easily on their clothes.

All municipal bodies in the city have been advised to fumigate animal markets before and during Eid days. Besides, butchers should also use gloves and should not come in contact with the blood of animals and use knives if they have cuts on any part of their bodies.

Officials said every CCHF victim caught the viral disease through the bite of an infected tick found on animals.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019