Congo Fever Threat Under Control
By Swatilekha Paul, Gaea News NetworkThursday, January 20, 2011
AHMEDABAD, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) which has been detected in India for the very first time, has put authorities on their toes to prevent the virus from spreading any further after it has already claimed three lives in Gujarat. On Wednesday, Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas told reporters that the state government is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the situation is under control while emphasizing that currently the state is in a position to handle the scenario as it has enough supply of antiviralribavirin which is used to treat Congo fever.
On Wednesday, the state health minister held a review meeting with the officials to ascertain the proper prevention and treatment of the dreaded Congo fever. While talking to journalists later, Jaynarayan Vyas said that there are more than enough stocks of anti-viral drug Ribavirin, which can be utilized to treat the disease. Meanwhile, the health minister also confirmed that the Gujarat state government has requested the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to provide the proper infrastructure to the labs in the state to make sure that the tests can be carried out in Ahmedabad itself in a bid to save time and accelerate the treatment procedure.
Meanwhile, Dr VM Katoch who is associated with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has told media outlets that there is no reason to believe that there is a panic situation in Ahmedabad over the Congo fever threat. The ICMR officials further went on to say that the situation is being closely monitored after the virus has killed three people in Ahmedabad in the last 15 days.
