Deputy Commissioner Kohat Saadat Hassan has directed the health department to concentrate on preventive measures to stop the spread of Congo fever. He also directed the department to launch a co-ordinated awareness campaign for the general public. He was presiding over a meeting here on Monday to review measures being undertaken against Congo fever. The meeting was attended by health authorities, representatives of animal husbandry department, WHO and municipal administration.
The meeting was told that Congo fever was a deadly viral disease spread by a sheep and goat ticks or contact with blood from an infected animal or patient. The symptoms of this disease are that at first, the patient develops fever, backache, headache, sore eyes, nausea and vomiting. Later on, the patient may develop palpitations, rash, bleeding from nose or gums or bleeding in stool or urine.
To avoid suffering from the disease, people should adopt the following precautionary measures. They should not touch or remove ticks with bare hands, wear gloves while slaughtering animals, drain the blood for 30 minutes after an animal is slaughtered before skinning the carcass and cutting into pieces, avoid contact with blood and other body fluids of animals or any patient of Congo fever and if anybody is suspected of the disease, he should report to nearest health facility.
The Deputy Commissioner appealed to people to strictly act upon the precautionary measures to avoid suffering from Congo fever. He also directed the concerned authorities to carry out spray at the entry points of animals and slaughter houses in Kohat and launch special campaign for creating awareness among cattle breeders.
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