30 August, Friday, 2024
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Everything we know about deadly virus sweeping Europe

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is feared to be heading towards Britain and France thanks to climate change and has a high mortality rate, according to experts

A virus running riot across Europe, Africa and the Middle East which is feared to be the biggest threat to the public could soon be found on Britain’s shores.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF ) broke out in Iraq and Namibia and there have been cases in Spain as well as deaths recorded in Pakistan. An urgent health warning has already been issued in what has been described as the current biggest threat to public health and is feared to be accelerated by climate change .

Spread through ticks, the disease is caused by Nairovirus and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and has a fatality rate of between 10 and 40 percent. Last week, insiders speaking to Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee revealed it was “highly likely” there could soon be cases in the UK.

During the hearing, James Wood, head of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, said CCHF could find its way to the UK “through our ticks, at some point”. The disease is feared to be expanding out of its usual territories and moving towards the likes of Britain and France because of climate change.

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