A 15-year-old boy suspected to be suffering from Congo fever died in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district on September 21, officials said.


The boy, a resident Jethantari village near Balotra town of Barmer district, was admitted to a local hospital for symptoms akin to the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and later shifted to the MDM hospital in Jodhpur, an official said. The teenager was under treatment at the isolation ward of the hospital, but his family members decided to take him away to Ahmedabad against medical advice, said Kamlesh Choudhary, the chief medical and health officer (CMHO) of Barmer.

The boy succumbed on the way to Ahmedabad on September 21. The sample of his blood has been sent to the virology laboratory in Pune. It will be confirmed only after a report whether was suffering from CCHF or something else, Choudhary said. After receiving information of his death, a team conducted a survey of the entire area and the persons who were in contact with the deceased, the official said. "But none of them have been found to have the symptoms of hemorrhagic fever."

Meanwhile, MDM Hospital superintendent M K Aseri said a 14-year-old girl from Jodhpur city and an eight-year-old boy from Balesar area of the district were also admitted in the isolation ward on suspected symptoms of CCHF. One of them has left against medical advice on September 21 morning. The samples of the two have already been sent to the virology lab of Pune for CCHF tests, the hospital superintendent said.

Earlier this month, two persons have died due to CCHF in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.

Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus is transmitted to people either by tick bite or through contact with infected animal blood or tissue during and immediately after slaughter. Human-to-human transmission could occur due to close contact with body fluids of an infected person.

It has symptoms like high fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, body pain and stiff neck.