INDIA SLAUGHTERHOUSES SPREAD MYSTERY DISEASE

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*http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=201657*

*Expert's poser: chikungunya or CCHF?*

*Vivek

Vijayapalan*<http://www.expressindia.com/about/feedback.html?mailto=easwaran@exp\

ressindia.com>

 

*Ahmedabad, September 17:* After chikungunya, a new scare. What many thought

was the disease spread by the aedis aegypti mosquito may actually have been

undetected cases of Congo-Crimean Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). The symptoms

are similar to chikungunya, thus there are more chances that the fever would

not have been diagnosed correctly, says Dr Jeram Parmar, a consultant for

Centre of Management of Health Services at the Indian Institute of

Management.

 

Cases of CCHF are found in eastern and southern Europe, Central Asia, Middle

East and the Indian sub-continent. The virus jumps from animal to humans

through infected blood, ticks or fleas.

 

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XBL300>Parmar

claims that deaths, thought to be caused by chikungunya, may have been due

to CCHF. According to Parmar, " Case fatality is more common in CCHF.

Chikungunya is a self-limiting disease, which means people don't die due to

it and recover in a few days. Hence, there might have been several CCHF

cases gone undetected. "

 

Parmar also says that sudden outbreak of the disease has been mainly

reported in areas like Khanpur, Mirzapur, Jamalpur and Gomtipur. He says,

" Cases of chikungunya have been mainly reported from areas where slaughter

houses exist and where people come in constant contact with animals. CCHF is

contracted through ticks and so it becomes necessary to find out whether

people living in these areas are suffering from chikungunya or CCHF. "

 

Jeram Parmar who has worked with the Government of Fujairah (UAE) as a

senior public health specialist in 1998, says, " My observations are based on

the experiences that I had in Fujairah where I detected cases of CCHF at

animal skin export houses where workers contracted the disease. "

 

Parmar has also worked for the Vadodara Municipal Corporation as a malaria

officer in 1981.

 

He says, " Although the diagnosis made by the AMC in most cases cannot be

ruled out, I feel that there is too much concentration on mosquito-borne

diseases whereas it is necessary to concentrate on the tick-borne disease

too. "

 

" Civic bodies should create awareness about the disease and repellents like

DEET (Diethyl Toluamide Derivatives). People working in abattoirs should be

asked to wear protective clothing. "