I believe that was addressed in a recent issue of Time Magazine. They contended that it has been around since last year, so I checked a WHO report,
who.int
Disease Outbreaks
Reported
12 July 2000
Acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome in Afghanistan - Update
To date, there have been 27 suspected cases, including 16 deaths reported from an isolated village in Gulran district, Herat Province, Afghanistan (see previous report). An international team, including experts from the WHO Collaborating Centre at the National Institute for Virology (NIV- South Africa), Epicentre and WHO have completed their investigation. Extensive virologic and serologic tests for a wide variety of pathogens have not yet identified the etiologic agent.
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At the Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital in Quetta, Dr. Akhlaq Hussain, the hospital's medical superintendent, told Butcher: "The first cases came in June. There were a number of deaths, but at first we Did not know what was the cause."
He explained that a number of blood samples were sent to Pakistan's national virology testing center in Islamabad. They were then sent to South Africa’s National Institute of Virology in Johannesburg for confirmation.
Dr. Hussain said: "When the results came back, we knew we were dealing With Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever." He has compiled a list of all 75 cases, which he said involved refugees recently arrived from Afghanistan or people living close to the border. |
