Shafaq News- Baghdad
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has killed nine people and infected 145 others across Iraq since the start of the year, Health Ministry spokesperson Saif Al-Badr said on Monday.
In a statement, Al-Badr added that the epidemiological update for week 23 recorded one death and 40 laboratory-confirmed infections. Dhi Qar accounted for more than half of the week's new cases with 21 infections, followed by Al-Muthanna with six. Basra recorded one death and three infections, while Maysan, Wasit, and Saladin reported two cases each. Baghdad Al-Rusafa, Nineveh, Diyala, and Babil recorded one case each.
The cumulative figures identified Dhi Qar as the country's main hotspot, recording 74 confirmed infections and six deaths since January.
Diyala recorded eight infections and one death, while Babil and Basra each registered one death alongside seven and six infections, respectively. Al-Muthanna reported 18 cases, followed by Maysan with nine and Wasit with seven. Baghdad Al-Rusafa and Nineveh recorded three cases each, while Karbala, Baghdad Al-Karkh, and Saladin reported two each.
Al-Diwaniyah, Kirkuk, Al-Anbar, and Najaf recorded one case apiece.
The latest figures came after a medical source in Dhi Qar said the province had recorded 11 new CCHF cases and one death on Monday.
Al-Badr urged citizens to buy meat only from licensed slaughterhouses, avoid random slaughter inside residential neighborhoods, wear gloves and protective clothing when handling animals or meat, combat ticks, and regularly wash and disinfect tools used in meat preparation.
CCHF is a viral disease transmitted between animals and humans, primarily through tick bites or contact with the blood and tissues of infected animals, particularly during slaughter. Early symptoms include fever, headache, body pain, and fatigue, Al-Badr explained, warning that some patients may later develop bleeding under the skin or from body openings.
