CCHF raises head again, claims life of one more doctor in Ahmedabad

One more doctor fell prey to the deadly Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus on Monday, taking the number of CCHF deaths in Ahmedabad so far to four.

No fresh case of the near-fatal virus had come to light in the last two weeks or so and it was felt that the virus had been contained.

However, the virus struck again on Monday to belie all such hopes. Meanwhile, four animal serum samples sent to NIV have also tested positive for the virus.
According to officials, Dr Shabbir Ali, 25, working as an intern at Civil Hospital, became the latest victim of CCHF virus on Monday.

He is the second doctor after Gaganjeet Sharma, and the fourth victim overall, to die of the deadly disease in Ahmedabad. All deaths have occurred in less than a month.

Officials said that a resident of Juhapura, Dr Shabbir was admitted to Sterling Hospital on Saturday evening with high-grade fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, symptomatic of CCHF infection. He was administered antibiotics, but this failed to prevent rapid deterioration of his physical condition, and he was placed on ventilator on Sunday night. The doctors, however, were unable to save Dr Shabbir and he passed away at around 2:30 pm on Monday.

However, it was only after Dr Shabbir had breathed his last that he was confirmed to be suffering from CCHF. Dr AC Mishra, director of NIV, said that Dr Shabbir’s serum sample had tested positive for CCHF. State health minister Jaynarayan Vyas also confirmed that Dr Shabbir was infected with CCHF virus.