An increase in the number of Congolese patients in Afghanistan
Recently, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health under the control of the Taliban has said that in recent months, positive cases of Congo hemorrhagic fever have increased by 38% in the country. According to Sharaf Zaman Amarkhel, in the last five months, 203 positive cases of Congo fever have been recorded in the country, and six of these patients have died. Now, at the same time as Eid al-Adha is approaching and the increase in animal sacrifices by people, concerns about the spread of this disease among people have increased.
According to doctors, this disease is transmitted to humans through ticks and animal blood. Dr. Pasa, an infectious disease specialist, says that there is the highest risk of contracting Congo disease when animals are slaughtered. Among other things, the disease can be transmitted by tick bites, animal blood entering the eyes and mouth of humans, or spilling it on body wounds. They emphasize that the animal slaughterer should not slaughter the animal with a wounded body, without boots and equipped clothes. Also, the remaining skin and waste of sacrificed animals should be safely buried in a designated place.
According to him, severe fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain, red eyes, depression and anger are some of the symptoms of Congo fever in humans.
Officials of Kabul Municipality also emphasize that there are specific places in Kabul city for buying and selling cattle on Eid al-Adha and no one has the right to buy, sell or slaughter them beyond that.