KARACHI: A patient, who was admitted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) two days back, tested positive for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) on Friday, officials said.

They said that the 52-year-old patient, a resident of Ittehad Town, worked at a tyre shop.

“His condition is relatively better. He reported to us on Wednesday with fever, nosebleed and low platelet level,” said Dr Yahya Tunio, the deputy executive director of the JPMC.

The patient had been rearing a goat for a month, he added.

His family said that the patient developed high-grade fever over a week ago and initially received treatment for malaria.

“Seeing no improvement in his condition, we took him to another doctor who had him tested for dengue and the results came positive,” shared Ajmal, the patient’s son. “Two days later when his nose started to bleed, we took him to a hospital which referred the case to JPMC.”

Earlier this month, 16 patients — most of them healthcare providers — were shifted to Karachi from Balochistan and admitted to the Aga Khan University Hospital following an outbreak of Congo fever at a hospital in Quetta due to poor infection control measures at the facility.

All patients recovered in Karachi except three, including a doctor, who succumbed to the illness.

This year, Karachi reported three localised cases of the tick-borne viral illness with one death. The fatality risk in this disease ranges from 10 per cent to 40pc.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2023