Three cases have been recorded in Erbil, according to the latest numbers, including a 40-year-old Baghdad resident who contracted the fever in the Kurdistan Region capital.
In Sulaimani, three people have contracted the disease, Saman Sheikh Latif, spokesperson for Sulaimani’s health directorate, told Rudaw on Saturday. All three were sent home after receiving medical care.
No deaths from the disease have been reported in Erbil or Sulaimani. In May, one Congo fever patient from Duhok died in an Erbil hospital.
“We have not recorded any new cases in recent days. In previous months we had two patients from Akre. Both of them received the necessary treatment and were sent home,” said Matin Amin, spokesperson for Duhok’s health directorate.
The Crimean-Congo fever is a tick-borne infection that causes severe hemorrhaging. It has been endemic to Iraq since 1979 but has made a resurgence since 2021 sparking fear among the population, especially in Iraq's southern provinces.
Iraq’s health ministry in May reported that at least 39 people have been diagnosed with Congo fever since the start of the year and five people have died. Over 545 confirmed cases were reported across Iraq in 2023, with 70 deaths.
At least four people have contracted Congo fever in Kirkuk since the start of the year, with one of the patients losing his life.
The disease can be transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infectious blood or body fluids, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Signs of the fever include bleeding, excessive headaches, fatigue, blue marks on the skin, and hematuria - blood in the urine.
