Gujarat well prepared to deal with Congo Fever, says Minister

Ahmedabad, Jan 19 (PTI) The Gujarat Government iswell prepared to deal with the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever(CCHF), which has claimed three lives here, state HealthMinister Jaynarayan Vyas said today.

"This is the first recorded instance of CCHF in India.

There might have been sporadic cases which may have goneunnoticed," Vyas told mediapersons.

He said, "The Health Department is well-equipped todeal with the situation as there was enough stock of antiviralribavirin which is used to treat affected persons."

A request has been sent to the Pune-based NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV) for helping in setting up a CCHFtesting facility at the B J Medical College here, the ministersaid.

A 30-year-old woman Amina Momin, resident of Kolatvillage, about 35 kms from here, was the first victim of thedisease, commonly known as Congo fever and caused by an animaltick-borne virus.

The doctor and nurse of a private hospital, whotreated her, also contracted the virus and died later. Momin''shusband and brother are under medical observation.

A six-member team from the Delhi-based National Centrefor Disease Control (NCDC), formerly National Institute ofCommunicable Disease, will be arriving here tomorrow. Theteam would visit Kolat village and plan their further courseof action, the Minister said.

Vyas said 20 teams of doctors today conductedsymptomatic survey in 5 kms radius of Kolat and checked over16,000 persons, 74 of whom were found to be suffering fromnormal fever.