HEALTH authorities have issued a warning to British travellers after a case of a deadly virus was spotted in the popular tourist region of Salamanca.
A 70-year-old man was hospitalised with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), the Ministry of Health for Castile and León reported on May 28.
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The Foreign Office-run website Travel Health Pro and Public Health Scotland‘s Fit for Travel, both confirmed the infection and warned British travellers to take precautions when travelling to the region.
The CCHF virus tends to be spread by tick bites and can cause serious viral illness, as well as severe bleeding and multiple organ failure.
In severe outbreaks, it can be fatal to up to 40 per cent of its victims, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Spanish health authorities said the 70-year-old man had contracted the dangerous infection from a tick bite.
Testing confirmed he had CCHF after he was admitted to Salamanca Hospital with telltale symptoms.
“He remains stable, although with the clinical severity that this pathology implies,” Ministry for Health officials wrote.
The patient is being isolated and protection measures are in place for healthcare professionals caring for him, they added.
Medics also traced people the man had been in contact with and were keeping them under observation.
“CCHF is caused by a virus primarily transmitted through the bite of a Hyalomma tick,” Spanish health authorities said.
“However, it can also be transmitted from person to person through contact with the patient’s blood or body fluids, which can occur particularly among healthcare workers when they are not properly protected.”
For British travellers, the risk of contracting CCHF while holidaying in Spain remains “low”, Travel Health Pro noted.
“Imported cases are very rare and are more commonly reported in people who have worked in endemic rural areas in high-risk jobs, such as farmers, veterinarians, slaughterhouse workers, livestock owners and other people that work with animals.”
But it urged people travelling to CCHF-affected areas to take the necessary precautions to avoid getting bitten by ticks.
This includes steering clear of long grass and greenery where ticks may be hiding, as well covering skin with clothing, tucking trousers into socks, and using insect repellent and insecticide.
Everything you need to know about Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral disease.
It triggers symptoms including high fever, muscle pain, dizziness, abnormal sensitivity to light, abdominal pain and vomiting.
Later on, sharp mood swings may occur, and the patient may become confused and aggressive.
CCHF virus is widespread and the virus has been found among ticks in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe and South Western Europe.
In Europe cases of human infections have been reported from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
In June 2008, the first case was diagnosed in Greece and Spain reported the first locally acquired case in August 2016.
Two cases were previously confirmed in the UK — one in 2012 and one in 2014 — which were imported from Afghanistan and Bulgaria.
A third case was detected in March 2022 in a woman who had recently travelled to central Asia.
Source: ECDC
Travellers were also urged to check their body over for ticks and carefully remove any critters from their skin without squashing them.
“UK travellers experiencing symptoms abroad should seek local medical advice as soon as possible,” Travel Health Pro stated.
In some cases, CCHF infections may cause no symptoms at all.
For others, it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to appear.
According to the UK Health Security Agency, initial symptoms may appear abruptly and can include:
- Fever and muscle aches
- Dizziness
- Neck pain and stiffness
- Backache
- Headache
- Sore eyes and sensitivity to light
- Confusion
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhoea
What’s known as the haemorrhagic phase tends to begin three to five days after symptoms first appear.
It usually starts with a rash and progresses to:
- Bruising
- Bleeding from the gums and nose
- Bleeding into the brain and/or the abdomen
- Low blood pressure
- Kidney failure
- Neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms
The disease be fatal as a result of blood loss and multi-organ failure.
Hyalomma ticks – which carry the virus from biting infected animals – aren’t established in the UK but are present in countries across Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and western and south-central Asia.
CCHF cases have been reported in over 30 countries across these regions.
It’s estimated that 10-15,000 human infections occur globally each year, resulting in approximately 500 deaths – though this is likely an underestimate as many cases may go unrecognised.
