Congo fever claims a life near Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Jan.23 (ANI): Congo fever has claimed the life of a 30-year-old woman in Kolat Village near here, and its residents are now afraid to move out.

"Our villagers don't go out of the village and outside people also don't enter the village. Our school children have been asked to go home. My relatives have advised me to move out from the village but I am not scared of this disease," said Narendra Singh Sisodia, a local.

"School children have been granted holidays till Monday. People have been asked not to come to office because of this virus. People on daily wages are facing difficulties in terms of earning their livelihood. It is examination time for the children and we also feel we are being treated as outcasts because of this virus," Chandu Parekh, a resident, added.

The state health department has, however, taken swift measures to curb the spread of the virus in and around Kolat village.

Kolat is a dusty hamlet with a population of 10,000.

Humans can acquire the Congo virus through blood transfusion or exposure to infected tissues, livestock or from a tick bite. (ANI)