Nakasongola on high alert after Crimean fever kills boy
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted by ticks
What you need to know:
- In 2017, Crimean-Congo fever broke out in Nakaseke and Kiboga districts, claiming eight lives.
- According to the World Health Organisation, the fever is a disease spread widely and caused by a tick-borne virus.
- The animals become infected by the bite of the infected tick and the virus remains in the animal bloodstream.
Health officials have placed Nakasongola on high alert after the district registered a Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever case that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy on Tuesday.
The deceased was a Primary Six pupil and a resident of Kikoiro Village in Lwampanga Sub-county.
Blood samples taken to Entebbe Hospital on Tuesday confirmed the disease.
Dr Agaba Byamukama, the district health officer, told this publication yesterday that more than four facilities that handled the case couldn’t detect the fever.
“The health teams from Entebbe Hospital handled the body professionally and the burial was conducted by a health burial team on Tuesday. We are undertaking the contact listing for monitoring,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the patient was handled by various health facilities but we are already in contact with the respective health facilities to ensure contact listing and further management of the condition,” Dr Byamukama said.
Health officials said the 12-year-old went through Lwampanga Health Centre IV, Nakasongola Health Centre IV, Kiwoko Hospital in Nakaseke District, Mulago National Referral Hospital and ended up at Entebbe Hospital where he died.
The Resident District Commissioner, Mr Saleh Kamba, confirmed the district health teams had been joined by the veterinary office to help the field teams establish the origin of the disease with guidance from the Ministry of Health.
“We don’t want to find ourselves in a risky situation. Fortunately, the residents that had tried to disorganise the safe handling of the body were later calmed down,” he said.
