ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: A WHO reference laboratory in South Africa has confirmed that a suspected case of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) admitted early this month to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) was not suffering from the disease.

A Health Ministry spokesman said here on Monday that “the sample of blood of the patient sent to South Africa was found to be negative”.

Patient Ejaz Ahmed had already been discharged from the hospital on December 15 after complete recovery, he added.

A butcher by profession, he was brought from Abbottabad where doctors suspected him to be a Congo virus case as his fellow professional and contact Abid Ali had died of CCHF on December 8.

Blood sample of 38-year-old Abid, a resident of Lower Malikpura, Abbottabad, were confirmed as positive for Congo virus by the WHO Reference Laboratory, said the ministry spokesman.

These tests were confirmed by Polymerise Chain Reaction (PCR) and ELISA methods and the results have been conveyed to the concerned health authorities alongwith guidelines for taking preventive and control measures in the area, he said.

No new case of CCHF had been reported since, authorities at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, said.

Experts in epidemic diseases are also keeping a close watch on the situation. Updated guidelines developed by NIH have been provided to all EDOs Health of the country to take appropriate measures for prevention and control of the disease.