Yahoo News Foreign Office warns UK tourists after virus where 40% of patients die found in Spain
The UK Foreign Office has issued a warning over the emergence of a virus - where a third of patients die - in Spain. The Foreign Office-backed Travel Health Pro website warned people thinking of going to Spain to watch out for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
The Spanish Castile and León Ministry of Health explained: "The patient remains admitted, stable in serious condition, at the Salamanca Hospital, where the protocolized epidemiological and care measures have been adopted.
"The confirmed case is an elderly man who is admitted to the Salamanca Hospital with a clinical picture compatible with CCHF. He has a tick bite and remains stable, although with the clinical severity that this pathology implies, with the isolation measures and protection of health professionals provided for these situations.
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"The Epidemiology Section of the Territorial Health Service of the Government of Castilla y León in the province of Salamanca, in collaboration with the health professionals of the Hospital of Salamanca, has identified the contacts of the affected person to indicate the follow-up to be carried out.
"On the health portal of the Government of Castilla y León, information is available to citizens and health professionals on both the prevention of tick bites and the diseases for which they are potential vectors of transmission and, more specifically, fever."
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is disease caused by CCHF virus. It is transmitted by bites from infected ticks or by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected ticks, people and livestock. More than 80 per cent of cases are asymptomatic or mild, with any symptoms appearing within two to seven days of infection.
The Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks. CCHF is endemic in Africa and has case fatality rate of 40 per cent, according to the Africa CDC.
