Last year Turkey was struck by a number of cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a viral disease carried by certain tick species. Last year 55 people in Turkey died from CCHF, bringing the total number of CCHF deaths in the country over the past six years to 147, according to research conducted by the Turkish Healthcare Workers´ Union (Türk Saðlýk-Sen). 

While the country was preparing to take precautions against tick-borne diseases with the summer months approaching, it was shaken by a new threat: Hanta virus. The virus, which is carried by rodents and causes epidemic hemorrhagic fever and severe respiratory infections in humans, claimed its first known victim in Turkey last week, raising public concern about this relatively unknown threat. Experts say Hanta virus has probably caused sickness in Turkey for years but that it has gone unrecognized until recently, warning people to take precautions against this new threat.

The recent incident started when Ýlyas Bilgin, 46, was pricked by a splinter while he was trying to cut down a tree in the northwestern city of Bartýn, causing his finger to swell up.

He was subsequently hospitalized with symptoms of fever, chills and nausea and died on Feb. 20 of "multiple organ failure in connection with acute renal failure," according to his doctors. The Health Ministry, however, recently announced that Hanta virus had been determined as the cause of his death. Bilgin was the only known victim of the virus to die in Turkey, yet eight people have contracted the virus in the region, and 12 others in Bartýn and four in Zonguldak have been hospitalized for possible infections.

Güven Çelebi, the associate professor at Zonguldak Karaelmas University who diagnosed the disease for the first time in Turkey, said on Wednesday that because the symptoms pointed to Hanta virus and no cases of Hanta virus infection had ever been reported in Turkey before, they informed the Health Ministry immediately, adding that the ministry formed a team in early March to work on the issue. Stressing that mine workers, farmers and foresters, who have a higher likelihood of contact with rodents, should be particularly careful, Çelebi said dead rodents should never be touched or left unburied.

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Quite scary! Walking in a forest might be lethal?

On slightly the same topic..... recieved this document this morning wondering if any of our american counterparts have heard anything

Over the past few days there have been an increasing numbers of patients with confirmed H1N1 Influenza ‘A’ arising in the southern states of North America and Mexico.

The UK Health Protection Agency and Centre for Disease Control in the US have regular updates on their investigation and advice for clinicians on the treatment of this strain of the virus. There is no change at the current time to the WHO pandemic alert level which remains at WHO phase 3.

General advice for patients is to:

• Covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible.
• Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully.
• Maintaining good basic hygiene, for example washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people.
• Cleaning hard surfaces (eg door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product.
• Making sure your children follow this advice.

Patients who have returned from North America in the past 7 days and have respiratory symptoms and a fever are advised to stay at home and restrict contact with others. If further medical advice is required they should contact their local health practice or NHS Direct.

Patients requiring transportation to hospital can be taken to their local hospital and do not require specialist infectious units and if admitted to hospital will then require single room isolation. Patients should be asked to wear a surgical mask when being transported in the vehicle to reduce the risk of cross contamination. All clinical waste can be disposed of in the normal fashion. All areas that have had contact with patients should be cleaned in the normal way. Consideration should be given to wearing gloves, aprons and eye protection for the care patients with a strong suspicion of infection.

Further information and guidance can be found on the HPA and CDC website, links to these sites are provided below.

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1240646410227?p=1231252394302

swine flu?? who makes up these names

I wonder how much ZAMAN pays to this weird correspondent?

 I hope you don´t mean Trudy! 

Let´s say that if Zaman pays me enough for a two-week holiday in that new hotel in Antalya, I be happy to be Alpha´s ´weird´ correspondent....

Last year in Turkey loads of people lost their lives to a virus carried by ticks. At some point people were afraid to leave their homes in certain areas. It was quite frightening and constantly a headline on the news

I hope they find an effective cure soon...

Too late, only ZAMAN readers and viruses left....

 You read it - at least the parts I post - as well......

We have had a big problem with tick born virus for years.  It´s called Lyme disease.  I know several people who have it and the effects are quite devastating.  My friends had it for years before being diagnosed.

Then we also have West Nile Virus...a mosquito born disease.