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Published Date: 2019-03-30 12:51:57
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Africa (02): South Africa (NC)
Archive Number: 20190330.6394622
CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - AFRICA (02): SOUTH AFRICA (NORTHERN CAPE)
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Date: Thu 28 Mar 2019
Source: IOL [edited]
https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/northern-cape/kimberley-man-with-congo-fever-in-isolation-unit-20130770


A well-known Kimberley man [ME] is being treated for Congo fever in the isolation unit at the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital. He is the 2nd patient to be diagnosed with Congo fever in South Africa this year [2019]. The other case is in the Free State.

According to [ME]'s wife, [SE], the 58-year-old started feeling ill on Sunday [24 Mar 2019]. "We went away for the weekend and when we came home my husband, who enjoys generally good health, began to complain of joint pain, a headache and feeling nauseous."

[SE] said her husband went to work at the Kareevlei Mine in the Koopmansfontein area on Monday [25 Mar 2019], still feeling unwell. "He had to attend a meeting but felt too ill and he knew he had to see a doctor. He then drove through to Kimberley and saw a doctor at the Mediclinic Gariep hospital.

"He was referred to a specialist as it was suspected that he could have contracted Congo fever as he had been bitten the week before by ticks." The specialist transferred him to the isolation unit at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (RMS) Hospital. This is also where [ME] had blood tests done to confirm that he had Congo fever, as these tests cannot be done in the private sector.

The diagnosis of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever was confirmed yesterday morning [27 Mar 2019]. [SE] said her husband had a bite mark on his shoulder and he found a tick in his groin area last week. "It is suspected that the ticks came from the veld as there is a lot of veld around the mine where he works."

[SE] added that her husband was receiving the normal treatment for Congo fever. "We are very fortunate that there are no signs of haemorrhaging at this stage and we are hopeful that he recovers without any complications. He is fine at this stage, although he is being kept in isolation. I can wave at him through the glass window and we keep in contact on the phone."

As Congo fever is contagious and is transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infected blood or body fluids, [SE] will have to monitor herself for the next few days. "I was instructed by the doctor to take my temperature twice a day for 2 weeks as well as to watch out for any bleeding, flu-like symptoms and joint pain. I have also just been told to leave work."

There is no danger, however, of other contacts at this stage. Mediclinic Gariep spokesperson Denise Coetzee confirmed yesterday [27 Mar 2019] that a 58-year-old male patient, with possible Congo fever, was referred to the RMS hospital on the evening of 25 Mar 2019. "The patient had a history of being bitten by a tick and presented with fever and swollen glands."

The Northern Cape Department of Health also confirmed yesterday [27 Mar 2019] that a 58-year-old male was admitted to the isolation unit at RMS Hospital. Department spokesperson Lulu Mxekezo said that the man works near Koopmansfontein and was bitten by a tick sometime last week.

"A laboratory test result on Tuesday [26 Mar 2019] confirmed he is suffering from Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF). He is currently in a stable condition, still in the isolation unit," Mxekezo said.

The length of the incubation period for Congo fever depends on the mode of acquisition of the virus. According to the World Health Organisation, following infection by a tick bite the incubation period is usually 1 to 3 days, with a maximum of 9 days. The incubation period following contact with infected blood or tissues is usually 5 to 6 days, with a documented maximum of 13 days.

Onset of symptoms is sudden, with fever, myalgia (muscle ache), dizziness, neck pain and stiffness, backache, headache, sore eyes and photophobia (sensitivity to light). There may be nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and a sore throat early on, followed by sharp mood swings and confusion. After 2 to 4 days, the agitation may be replaced by sleepiness, depression and lassitude, and the abdominal pain may localise to the upper right quadrant, with detectable hepatomegaly (liver enlargement).

Other clinical signs include tachycardia (fast heart rate), lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) and a petechial rash (a rash caused by bleeding into the skin) on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth and throat and on the skin. The petechiae may give way to larger rashes called ecchymoses, and other haemorrhagic phenomena. There is usually evidence of hepatitis, and severely ill patients may experience rapid kidney deterioration, sudden liver failure or pulmonary failure after the 5th day of illness.

The mortality rate from CCHF is approximately 30%, with death occurring in the 2nd week of illness. In patients who recover, improvement generally begins on the 9th or 10th day after the onset of illness.

[Byline: Michelle Cahill]

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ProMED-mail
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[CCHF was 1st reported in South Africa in 1981 [1]. CCHF is being reported with increasing frequency from South Africa. In 1985, an outbreak was reported from a Cape Town hospital due to nosocomial spread of virus [2]. Nosocomial infections with CCHF have occurred in other countries, including Iraq, the former Soviet Union, and Pakistan [3,4]. Contact with bloody secretions appeared to be the means of transmission in those outbreaks, although airborne transmission has been neither proven nor disproven [4].

CCHF is caused by a bunyavirus of the arbovirus group. Widespread occurrence of the antibodies in wild and domestic animals in South Africa has been documented [5]. Transmission to humans is thought to be primarily via the _Hyalomma_ genus of tick or contact with the blood of infected animals [5].

CCHF, as well as other viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus disease, and Lassa fever, have the potential to spread in a hospital setting. Patients are often hospitalized with a severe illness, but the nonspecific nature of their signs and symptoms may not suggest a viral hemorrhagic fever.

Even simple isolation procedures, such as barrier nursing on open wards, can effectively halt transmission of these viruses. Therefore, it is imperative that a diagnosis of a viral hemorrhagic fever be considered in any patient with an unknown febrile disease who either resides in or traveled to an endemic area within 3 weeks of the onset of symptoms. If other more common causes of the fever, such as malaria or sepsis, can be reasonably excluded, measures for isolation of the patient should be taken immediately. - Mod.UBA

References
1. Gear JHS, Thomson PD, Hopp M, et al. Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever in South Africa. Report of a fatal case in the Travsvaal. S Afr Med J 1982;62:576-80.
2. CDC. International Notes Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever -- Republic of South Africa. MMWR Weekly 1985;34:94,99-101 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000489.htm.
3. Burney MI, Ghafoor A, Saleen M, et al. Nosocomial outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by a Crimean hemorrhagic fever-Congo virus in Pakistan, January 1976. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1980;29:941-7.
4. Hoogstraal H. The epidemiology of tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Asia, Europe, and Africa. J Med Entomol 1979;15:307-417.
5. Swanepoel R, Struthers JK, Shepherd AJ, et al. Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in South Africa. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1983;32:1407-15.

HealthMap/ProMED-mail maps:
South Africa: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/179
Northern Cape Region, South Africa: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/12176]

See Also

Crimean-Congo hem. fever - Africa: Uganda (MZ) 20190106.6244399
2017
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Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa (02): (NC) 20170203.4812066
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa: (WC) 20170113.4762405
2014
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Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa ex Namibia 20140919.2788764
2013
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Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa (03): (MP) farmer 20130709.1815602
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa (02): background 20130116.1501273
Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa: (FS) 20130115.1499675
2011
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Crimean-Congo hem. fever - South Africa: (NAS) 20110101.0012
and other items in the archives
.................................................sb/uba/rd/jh

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