Health ministry taking preventive measures against Congo virus: Dr Jan

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Health Dr Nadeem Jan on Wednesday said that the Ministry of Health is taking effective measures to prevent citizens from the Congo virus.

In a statement, the minister said that after the outbreak of Congo virus in Balochistan, the Ministry of Health is monitoring the current health situation.

Dr Jan said that when there was an outbreak in Balochistan, the National Institute of Health (NIH) immediately sent a mission to find out the causes of the outbreak, the official news agency reported.

He said, “The ministry is in full contact with the provincial governments and continuously monitoring the situation.”

He made it clear that there is no vaccine to prevent Congo fever.

Dr Jan asked the citizens to follow the guidelines of the National Institute of Health. “This disease can be avoided by following preventive measures,” he added. “The virus is mostly found in the hair follicles of sheep, goats, cows, buffaloes and other livestock.”

“When this tick bites a cattle or human, the virus becomes active in it,” he added. “The virus can also be transmitted through the blood of an infected person or animal.”

He advised, “Before buying or slaughtering sheep or goats, citizens make sure that there are no ticks on animal body.”

He asked to use gloves when examining the animal and protect pets from fleas and use medicines in consultation with the Livestock Department.

He said citizens should use gloves when slaughtering animals and preparing meat besides protecting from animal blood contamination. He advised to dispose of blood and offal carefully after slaughtering animals.

The minister asked doctors to use personal protective measures such as gloves and masks when treating a patient. He asked to keep the patient in a separate room (isolation) during treatment and implement all infection control guidelines.