Oman on high alert as livestock worker dies from Congo Fever

MUSCAT // Oman is on high alert after a livestock worker died of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) near the border of the UAE, a ministry of health statement said yesterday.

The virus, which has a 30 per cent mortality rate, usually spreads to humans from cattle through tickbites or contact with meat after slaughter and can lead to severe outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization.

The worker, believed to be from Bangladesh, died in Al Buraimi at the weekend. Health workers involved in the case have been given preventive treatment.

"This is well under control but we need to be on a high alert to make sure no one else is infected," a heath ministry official told the National.

The ministry of health has already distributed preventive prophylaxis as a safeguard against possible exposure to CCHF.

Health care workers at Buraimi Hospital who treated the patient over the weekend were administered similar prophylaxis treatment.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae