KRG to discuss measures to contain Congo fever

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Ministers in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday are set to discuss the rising cases of Crimean-Congo fever in the Kurdistan Region as well as the measures to contain the tick-borne disease, according to a government statement. 

The subject, among other topics, will be discussed at the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) weekly cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and his Deputy Qubad Talabani, in Erbil, the press release added. 

The measures that have been taken so far by the Ministries of Health and Agriculture and Water Resources will be discussed, it added. 

The KRG ministries have issued several guidance and awareness-raising materials on the condition since January in a bid to contain the spread of the virus. Slaughterhouses have been notified to tighten hygiene practices. 

Kurdistan Region has so far witnessed two deaths caused by the disease, whose symptoms include headache, high fever, joint pain, stomach ache, and vomiting as well as bleeding. The fatality rate is nearly 40 percent. 

The discussion comes as the country is set to celebrate Eid Al Adha on June 28, during which thousands of sacrificial animals are slaughtered to mark the religious feast. 

Akre district in Duhok province on Wednesday recorded the first case.

Out of 107 confirmed cases in Iraq, at least 14 people have died since the beginning of this year, according to figures from the Ministry of Health as of Tuesday.

The country recorded 27 deaths among the 212 infected people in 2022. 

Iraq recorded the first case of Crimean-Congo Fever, against which no known vaccine or cure exists so far, in 1979. Annually, the country records about 20 cases of the disease.

Unregulated livestock breeding and slaughtering have been blamed by health officials for the uptick in cases both this year and in 2022.