SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Sulaimani authorities tightened preventive measures to curb the spread of a new wave of the Crimean-Congo fever outbreak as several cases have been recorded in the Kurdistan Region, according to a health official on Friday.
“Health committees will intensify measures to check butchers and places that sell beef to prevent the Crimean-Congo fever outbreak and its repercussions,” said Fryad Osamn, an official Sulaimani Directorate of Veterinary.
He reiterated that up to this moment, no cases of the disease outbreak have been reported in Sulaimani, stressing tightening preventive measures to curb the fatal disease.
“In order to protect your health, avoid buying beef on the street vendors that are not marked by the Directorate of Veterinary,” He said.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever causes severe hemorrhaging, with people usually catching it through contact with the blood of infected animals, according to the World Health Organization.
The fever has a fatality rate of between 10 and 40 percent in all cases.
The disease has been endemic to Iraq since 1979, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). At times, small outbreaks have been reported, with the last outbreak happening in 2022 summer.
Earlier on Thursday, one death was reported in Erbil due to the disease outbreak.
