A man was recently hospitalized in Spain following being bitten by a tick. The patient was infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a rare and deadly virus that notably causes the eyes of infected people to bleed.
According to the WHO, the disease kills 30% of the people it infects. Symptoms of CCHF include eye bleeding and fever. They appear suddenly and death most often occurs within two weeks of diagnosis.
The Spanish authorities indicate that the patient was initially hospitalized in Leon before being transported to another hospital by the Ministry of Defence. “He is in stable condition, despite the clinical seriousness that this pathology implies,” they said.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is mostly carried by ticks and cattle. It can be transmitted through the blood or bodily fluids of infected people.
