SAMSUN - A person died from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) at a hospital in the northern city of Samsun, bringing the total number of deaths this year from the disease to seven, health officials said on Wednesday. Fourteen people including three children have been admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed as CCHF in Samsun. The virus first emerged in Turkey in 2002, in the spring and summer months when the ticks that carry the disease flourish. Health officials warned that because no vaccine has yet been found for the disease, which ticks spread to humans and livestock or is transmitted through blood, saliva or sneezing, prevention is of key importance.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health called on rural residents to take basic precautions such as wearing protective clothing and checking themselves for ticks.
The virus is especially prevalent in the cities of Corum, Tokat, Amasya, Kastamonu, Gumushane and Sivas.
CCHF is a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by tick bite, with a high mortality rate. The disease is endemic in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia.
It was first described in the Crimea in 1944 and given the name Crimean hemorrhagic fever. In 1969, it was recognized that the pathogen causing Crimean hemorrhagic fever was the same as that responsible for an illness identified in 1956 in the Congo, and linkage of the two place names resulted in the current name for the disease and the virus.