Congo fever kills two in Iran

TEHRAN, Sept. 11 (MAN) -- The Majlis Agricultural Committee says that two people have died in Iran as a result of sporadic cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF).

The importation of livestock to Iran to supplement the domestic production of meat has been the cause of the spread of the disease, MP Kazem Farahmand, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee, told the Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

CCHF is a viral disease and it has reached Yazd, Fars, and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces so far, he said.

The importation of livestock to the country is unavoidable, and thus it is imperative that the Veterinary Organization of Iran conduct a quarantine period on imported livestock on the borders in order to prevent the spread of various diseases, he stated.

However, Farahmand said that the pervasiveness of livestock smuggling into the country has made the control and quarantine process more difficult.

He said that a total of six people have been infected by the disease so far, and two of them have died.

This disease is transmitted through blood, and people who are in direct contact with infected meat are most susceptible to the virus, Farahmand added.

But the virus is killed if the infected meat is frozen or cooked, he noted.

CCHF is a widespread tick-borne viral disease that affects domestic and wild animals and may also be transmitted to humans.