MANILA — The Department of Health on Thursday reported that there is “little to no risk” that the virus that causes people to bleed to death will enter the Philippines.
The agency issued this statement after detecting an outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Iraq. To date, Iraq has reported 27 deaths out of 97 confirmed cases.
“CCHF is said to be endemic to Africa, Balkan states, the Middle East, and some northern Asian countries. The DOH sees little to no risk of the virus entering Philippine borders,” it said.
What is CCHF?
The World Health Organization said CCHF causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever, with a case fatality rate of 10 to 40%.
The CCHF virus is primarily transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood, tissues, and fluids.
DOH stated that it is most likely among those who work in the livestock, agriculture, vegetarian, and slaughter industries.
Symptoms and treatments of CCHF
The symptoms of CCHF include fever, myalgia (muscle ache), dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, backache, headache, sore eyes, photophobia (sensitivity to light), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and sore throat.
“Treatment of symptoms with general supportive care has been shown to be the main approach to manage such cases,” the DOH said, adding that the antiviral drug ribavirin has been used to treat the virus.
Currently, there is no vaccine available.
