Patient dies from rare fever
A man suffering from Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever after returning to Britain from Afghanistan has died, it has been announced.
CCHF is especially common in east and west Africa, China, parts of eastern europe Europe and central Asia and is fatal in about 30% of human cases Photo: ALAMY
By Sean Rayment
1:08PM BST 06 Oct 2012
The 38-year-old victim died after being treated inside an isolation unit at Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow.
After his condition deteriorated he was flown to the high security infectious disease unit at The Royal Free Hospital in London.
The man, who has not been named, had returned from Kabul on Tuesday and flew into Glasgow on a flight via Dubai.
It is the first laboratory-confirmed case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in the UK, according to the Health Protection Agency.
Other passengers who sat close to him on an aircraft are now being closely monitored but none are yet to show any of the fever's symptoms.
A spokesman for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation said: "Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever can be acquired from an infected patient only through direct contact with their blood or body fluids, therefore there is no risk to the general public."
A spokesman for the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health authority said it has identified and contacted four passengers who may have had contact with the patient.
The health board said two of them - one who remained in "close proximity" to the ill man during the flight - will be monitored on a daily basis for the next two weeks for any developments of relative symptoms.
The other two passengers do not require follow-up surveillance and the risk to all other passengers on the flight from Dubai is "extremely low", it added.
CCHF is especially common in east and west Africa, China, parts of eastern europe Europe and central Asia and is fatal in about 30% of human cases.
The disease is passed by a tick-borne virus and symptoms include: headache, high fever, vomitinga and back, stomach and joint pains.
As the illness progresses large areas of severe bruising and severe bleeding at injection sites can be seen.
