Portugal has identified the first case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, which resulted in the death of an 80-year-old man. Symptoms range from headaches to hemorrhages.
The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) confirmed this Friday in a statement that the first case of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Portugal has been identified in an 80-year-old man who died at Bragança Hospital.
‘The DGS, committed to transparency and timely communication, clarifies that there is no risk of an outbreak or of transmission from person to person, showing that this is a rare and sporadic case,’ reads the note released by the Portuguese authority.
The DGS also reports that cases of infection with the virus in Europe have been increasing in recent years, especially ‘in the context of rising average temperatures in southern Europe and Portugal’. ‘In Spain, FHCC cases have been identified since 2013, with 16 confirmed cases since then, the last two in April and June 2024, in communities bordering Portugal.’
At first (pre-hemorrhagic phase), the symptoms include, according to the Pedipedia portal, fever, headaches and general malaise of sudden onset, progressive abdominal pain, stiff neck and change of mood and agitation ‘followed by great tiredness’. In the hemorrhagic phase, which begins days later, the disease also triggers bleeding.
The disease is usually transmitted through tick bites, but it can also occur through contact with blood and other fluids from infected animals or humans. According to the same portal, the period between contact with the infecting agents and the appearance of the first symptoms is between three and 12 days.
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