A case of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has been confirmed in a 54-year-old man in North West, The Citizen reports the provincial health department said. It said Charl Pretorius was in a stable condition, conscious, communicating and responding well to treatment at the Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital complex.
“(Pretorius) from a farm between Ventersdorp and Coligny in the North West province was admitted in the Klerksorp Hospital HID (highly infectious disease) unit with the history of Crimean Congo fever at 16:45,” hospital CEO Polaki Mokatsane said.
According to the report, the statement said Pretorius had visited a neighbouring farm on 26 April and later found a tick on his head which he crushed with his fingers. Two days later he experienced headache which recurred continuously despite taking painkillers.
He saw some redness on his skin on 30 April and consulted a private hospital in Potchefstroom, where he was admitted and discharged on 1 May after blood tests were done. Later the same day Pretorius was recalled to the hospital as his blood levels were said to be low. He was admitted and transferred to the ICU isolation unit in the same facility on 3 May.
The report says the National Institute For Communicable Diseases confirmed he had CCHF, a viral disease whose symptoms may include fever, muscle pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding into the skin. Pretorius was transferred to the North West provincial highly infectious disease unit at Klerksdorp Hospital.
[link url="https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/health/2127852/crimean-congo-fever-detected-in-north-west-patient/"]The Citizen report[/link]