2017-03-01Staff Report 2 Petrus Muronga Windhoek-A new case of Congo Fever was detected yesterday morning from a person who was traveling from Leonardsville to Karasburg, health minister Dr Bernhard Haufiku announced yesterday. The patient was rushed to the Gobabis state hospital, Haufiku told the National Assembly yesterday. The new case brings the tally to two detected so far in the Omaheke Region. The virus which, is formally known as the Crimean–Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHFV), was detected last week Monday when a 26-year-old man died from its infection. While updating the media on Monday on the nine people that were quarantined after coming into possible contact with infected people, the minister said the four patients and the five health personnel who were in isolation were symptom free. A high-level meeting was also held on Monday where the minister together with the governor of Omaheke Region Festus Ueitele, councillors, veterinary services, private doctors and other key stakeholders agreed to come up with a coordinated response and a long-term strategy. He added that a team of medical experts was dispatched to the Gobabis state hospital for relief duties while a Gobabis doctor and four nurses are still quarantined at the hospital’s isolation unit. In addition, it was established that the case that was reported last week was not the first case of Congo Fever in Namibia after the first such case was reported in 1989. CCHFV infections mainly occurred in the eastern half of the country. There were similar cases reported in the past, one in 1998 and two in 2001. A total of four cases came from known tick bites, with a 50 percent survival rate for the victims. 2017-03-01Staff Report 2
