Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Mauritania.
From February to August 2003, 38 persons were infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus in Mauritania; 35 of these persons were residents of Nouakchott. The first patient was a young woman who became ill shortly after butchering a goat. She transmitted the infection to 15 persons in the hospital where she was admitted and four members of her family. In Nouakchott, two disease clusters and 11 isolated cases were identified. The case-fatality ratio was 28.6%. Of the patients not infected by the first case-patient, almost half were butchers, which suggests that the primary mode of animal-to-human transmission was direct contact with blood of infected animals. The hospital outbreak alerted health authorities to sporadic cases that occurred in the following weeks, which would have probably gone otherwise unnoticed. Studies must be conducted to determine the potential risk for continued sporadic outbreaks of CCHF in humans and to propose prevention measures.
Nabeth
Pierre
P
Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal. nabeth@pasteur.sn
Cheikh
Dah Ould
DO
Lo
Baidy
B
Faye
Ousmane
O
Vall
Idoumou Ould Mohamed
IO
Niang
Mbayame
M
Wague
Bocar
B
Diop
Djibril
D
Diallo
Mawlouth
M
Diallo
Boubacar
B
Diop
Ousmane Madiagne
OM
Simon
François
F
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle / Q000821:virology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D004199:Disease Vectors; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats / Q000821:virology; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008435:Mauritania / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep / Q000821:virology; D013987:Ticks / Q000821:virology
D004279:DNA, Viral