Uzbeks are among those infected with a dangerous fever after tick bites in Kazakhstan.

Uzbek citizens are among those infected with a dangerous fever after tick bites in Kazakhstan.

In Kazakhstan's Turkestan region, eight cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever have been recorded since the beginning of this year. According to local experts, the cases included Uzbek citizens who were bitten by ticks while working in agricultural fields or relaxing in melon fields.

As Nurbek Nyshanov, head of the region's Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Department, told Otyrar, six of the eight infected people contracted the disease while tending to livestock or having direct contact with them. Another case was related to a tick bite while mowing grass in a private garden. Experts emphasize that the complete eradication of ticks in the wild is impossible, despite the treatment of farm animals.

Since the beginning of the year, experts have analyzed more than 35,000 samples, and the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever pathogen was detected in 55 ticks. At the end of May, it was reported that 568 people in the region had been bitten by ticks, two of whom were hospitalized with hemorrhagic fever.

The Turkestan region is endemic for this infection, and the number of tick bites traditionally increases in the spring and summer. Experts advise wearing protective clothing and regularly inspecting the body for ticks when working with livestock or outdoors.

It was previously reported that the current Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo and Uganda presumably began with a new case of animal-to-human transmission, but the source of infection remains unknown. After this, the virus continued to spread between humans for several months, and the first cases could have appeared as early as January—long before the outbreak was officially declared.