Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Local sources to Al Mayadeen: Sudanese army forces drones strike town of Kabkabiya, North Darfur.
Syrian Observatory: The plane is loaded with air defense systems and heavy weapons as part of US troop reinforcements to its bases in northeastern Syria
Syrian Observatory: US cargo plane lands with two military helicopters at Kharab al-Jir base in the countryside of Rmeilan, north of Hasakah
Miguel Díaz-Canel to Gustavo Petro: US seeks to reimpose the Monroe Doctrine in its relations with sovereign states in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, the military wing of the PFLP, says they handed over the body of an Israeli captive to the Israeli occupation forces in implementation of the clauses of the ceasefire agreement.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: Israeli drones are flying over the presidential palace in Baabda, Mount Lebanon, and over the skies of the capital, Beirut, and its suburbs.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli warplanes launch a series of raids on the al-Mahmoudiya and Jarmaq areas
Trump reiterates proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop at current front line, negotiate later
Reuters: Trump says no discussion regarding Ukraine ceding Donbas to Russia
US Vice President JD Vance: There is currently no security infrastructure in place to ensure the disarmament of Hamas

Unprecedented number of deadly fever cases recorded in Iraq

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 29 May 2022 15:32
4 Min Read

Caused by tick bites, the surge of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cases in Iraq this year shocks officials, amid fears the numbers would boom after Eid Al-Adha.

  • x
  • Iraq
    Health worker spraying cow with pesticides

Iraq's health workers are targetting blood-sucking ticks at the heart of the country's worst detected outbreak of a fever that causes people to bleed to death.

The scene of health workers dressed in full protective kits is one that has become common in the Iraqi countryside, as the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) spreads, spreading from animals to humans.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this year Iraq has recorded 19 deaths among 111 CCHF cases in humans.

The virus has no vaccine and onset can be swift, causing severe bleeding both internally and externally and especially from the nose. It causes death in as many as two-fifths of cases, medics say.

"The number of cases recorded is unprecedented," highlighted Haidar Hantouche, a health official in Dhi Qar province.

In previous years, cases could be counted "on the fingers of one hand," he noted.

A farming region in southern Iraq, Dhi Qar province accounts for nearly half of Iraq's cases.

Transmitted by ticks, hosts of the virus include both wild and farmed animals such as buffalo, cattle, goats, and sheep - all of which are common in the province.

Surge of cases shocked officials

The WHO indicated that "Animals become infected by the bite of infected ticks."

"The CCHF virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter," it added.

The surge of cases this year has shocked officials, since numbers far exceed recorded cases in the 43 years since the virus was first documented in Iraq in 1979.

In Dhi Qar, only 16 cases resulting in seven deaths had been recorded in 2021, Hantouche said. But this year the province has recorded 43 cases, including eight deaths.

Related News

WHO warns of alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant infections

Cholera outbreak in Sudan affects 113,600+, kills 3000+

Considered an Endemic in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans, CCHF's fatality rate is between 10 and 40%, the WHO noted.

Mortality seems to be declining

The WHO's representative in Iraq, Ahmed Zouiten, said there were several "hypotheses" for the country's outbreak.

They included the spread of ticks in the absence of livestock spraying campaigns during Covid in 2020 and 2021.

"Very cautiously, we attribute part of this outbreak to global warming, which has lengthened the period of multiplication of ticks," he pointed out.

But "mortality seems to be declining", Zouiten noted, as Iraq had mounted a spraying campaign while new hospital treatments had shown "good results".

Fears that cases may boom following Eid Al-Adha

Since the virus is "primarily transmitted" to people via ticks on livestock, most cases are among farmers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians, the WHO said.

"Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons," the Organization explained.

Alongside uncontrolled bleeding, the virus causes intense fever and vomiting.

Medics fear that cases may boom following the Eid Al-Adha in July - a Muslim holiday when families traditionally slaughter an animal to feed guests.

"With the increase in the slaughter of animals, and more contact with meat, there are fears of an increase in cases during Eid," said Azhar al-Assadi, a doctor specializing in hematological diseases in a hospital in Nasiriya.

Meat consumption hit

Authorities have put in place disinfection campaigns and are cracking down on abattoirs that do not follow hygiene protocols.

Near Najaf, a city in the south, slaughterhouses are monitored by the authorities.

According to workers and officials, the virus has adversely hit meat consumption.

"I used to slaughter 15 or 16 animals a day -- now it is more like seven or eight," mentioned butcher Hamid Mohsen.

Fares Mansour, director of Najaf Veterinary Hospital, which oversees the abattoirs, noted that the number of cattle arriving for slaughter had fallen to around half normal levels.

"People are afraid of red meat and think it can transmit infection," he said.

  • World Health Organization
  • Dhi Qar
  • Iraq
  • WHO
  • Najaf

Most Read

Iran strikes secret Israeli-US bunker under Tel Aviv high-rise

Tel Aviv high-rise struck by Iran hid Site 81, secret US-Israeli base

  • Politics
  • 14 Oct 2025
Yemeni Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari , during a ceremony in an undisclosed locations in Yemen, undate (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemeni Armed Forces mourn martyred Chief of Staff al-Ghamari

  • Politics
  • 16 Oct 2025
Israeli occupation violates Gaza ceasefire, killing seven Palestinians.

Israeli occupation violates Gaza ceasefire, kills seven Palestinians

  • Politics
  • 14 Oct 2025
Zionists Fundamentally Misread Iran Due To Their Own Echo Chambers

Zionists fundamentally misread Iran due to their own echo chambers

  • Analysis
  • 15 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
UK blocks release of documents on secretive Lammy-Sa’ar meeting.
Politics

UK blocks release of documents on secret Lammy-Sa’ar meeting

Colombia slams Trump’s drug accusation, defends sovereignty
Politics

Colombia slams Trump’s incendiary drug claims, defends sovereignty

The abuse was detailed in Giuffre's memoir "Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice." (AP)
Politics

Epstein victim recounts choking, sexual assault by 'well-known PM'

The US Secret Service discovered a hunting stand near the airport President Donald Trump uses in Florida. (US Secret Service)
Politics

FBI probes hunting stand with sightline to Trump’s Air Force One exit

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS