Senegal reports first Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever fatality

Senegal Sunday registered the first death of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a widespread disease caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family.

The ministry of Health in a statement indicated that a patient who tested positive to the virus causing hemorrhagic fever, died at a local hospital on outskirt of capital Dakar.

The statement also revealed that 84 other people have been identified exposed to the disease.

“73 animals composed of cattle, sheep and goats were checked,” the Health Emergency Operations Center said. “No other cases have been detected,” the center added.

CCHF virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of 10–40%, the World Health Organization says. The hosts of the CCHF virus include a wide range of wild and domestic animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, the organization says.

The CCHF virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter.

The Geneva-based UN agency also indicates that Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, or other bodily fluids of infected persons.