Tick-borne Hemorrhagic Fever Kills Man in Spain

Spanish health authorities said on Thursday they were investigating a possible outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) which has killed one man and infected a nurse, in the first non-imported case reported in Western Europe.

The 62-year-old man died on Aug. 25 after contracting the CCHF disease during a walk in the Castilla-Leon region, probably from a tick bite he reported - which is one of the main ways it is transmitted - authorities said in a statement.

He also infected the nurse who treated him at a hospital in Madrid and she is now in a stable condition in quarantine at an isolation unit, they said. Authorities are monitoring about 200 other people who had come into contact with the man and nurse.

According to the World Health Organization, CCHF's mortality rate is about 30 percent and it is endemic to Africa, the Balkans and Ukraine, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Read more:
First Local Case of Tick-Borne Disease Kills Man in Spain

Source: Scientific American
Image: ALL OVER PRESS