TEHRAN – Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) has claimed five lives in the country since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), director of zoonotic diseases management office at the Ministry of Health has said.

Behzad Amiri said that over the past five months 38 people have been diagnosed with the disease but were cured and survived death.

Last year, 119 persons were diagnosed with Crimean-Congo fever in the country, of whom 11 died, he regretted, adding, since the beginning of this year, 38 people have been identified with Crimean-Congo fever, of whom 5 have lost their lives, unfortunately.

Mohammad Nabavi, deputy director for communicable diseases department of the Ministry of Health, said that some 10 percent of the people who are diagnosed with Crimean-Congo fever and receive proper medical care may die, while this number increases to 50 percent for the people who do not get any treatments.

According to the Health Ministry, some 100 to 150 cases of Crimean-Congo fever are annually reported in Iran.

According to the World Health Organization, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks.

CCHF outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 40 percent.

The virus is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals. Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected persons.

FB/MG