Health officials have warned an incurable deadly disease labelled ‘the new Ebola’ could be on its way to the UK thanks to ticks spreading the disease.
The virus, known as Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), causes internal bleeding, organ failure and eventually death and is spread through tick bites.
According to The Daily Star the ticks that carry CCHF can be found in some parts of the UK, including south east England, the Midlands and the Isle of Man.
However Public Health England have reassured the public that the risk of catching the disease in the UK is ‘negligible’.
The deadly disease is widespread throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia but health officials are concerned that it’s spreading after a man died from the disease in Spain.
The anonymous man is the first casualty to catch the disease in western Europe and two others have been placed in isolation after it was suspected they contracted the virus.
The Deputy director of the Public Health England’s national infections service, Nick Phin, spoke to The Daily Star about the virus.
Phin said:
We are aware of the cases of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Spain and are monitoring the international situation very closely.
Imported cases to the UK are very rare and we have excellent surveillance systems to detect such cases and robust infection control procedures in place in the event that a case is detected.
The risk to the wider population is negligible as the tick that carries CCHF is not established in the UK and it cannot survive here.
CCHF begins with a fever but the symptoms soon worsen and the victim stars vomiting, diarrhoea and suffers stomach pains. Eventually a rash develops and within five days the kidneys, liver and lungs stop working and the victim dies.
Back in 2012 a British man died of CCHF in Glasgow after contracting the disease in Afghanistan while slaughtering a goat for a village wedding feast.
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