KARACHI, Sept 10 (INP): A youth hailing from Karachi died of Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday. Executive Director JPMC, Dr. Seemin Jamali said that 25-year-old Haider Ali was a resident of Malir and said to be a caretaker of cattle. “He was brought to JPMC a couple of days with high-grade fever, body ache, bleeding from nose and mouth and other symptoms. Lab reports confirmed that he was infected with Congo virus,” said Dr Jamali. [timed-content-server show="09/11/2018 01:00 Asia/Karachi"]She added that Ali was the 13th CCHF patient brought to the hospital this year. So far, four Congo fever patients have died at JPMC, while seven had survived the virus and been discharged. Dr Jamali said two CCHF patients are still being treated at the hospital’s medical ICU. CCHF is a lethal viral infection that is transmitted to humans from animals, especially cattle and livestock. Since it is highly contagious, infected CCHF patients are kept in an isolation ward to prevent other patients as well as doctors and paramedics from contracting the lethal infection. Patients from Karachi and Balochistan are being brought to JPMC, Dr Jamali said. According to her, patients suspected to have CCHF symptoms are taken to private hospitals in Karachi but when these hospitals realize that these patients can’t afford their treatment, they are sent to JPMC for treatment instead. “We have to incur Rs10,000 for the laboratory test of the CCHF patient, while private hospitals charge heavily from the attendants of patients who are tested positive for the lethal disease,” she informed. INP/SB[/timed-content-server]