Five people contract Crimean fever in Iran

Mohammadreza Shirzadi said none of the patients with CCHF had died.

This is while 10 fatalities had been reported as a result of CCHF last year, according to Shirzadi.

He explained that people working at slaughterhouses should use protective gear and disinfect their tools after butchery.

Animal blood, he added, has to be disposed of hygienically.

He said meat from slaughtered animals should be kept at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius for at least 24 hours, a process that will kill any potential viruses in the meat.

Shirzadi said that two cases of leptospirosis, more commonly known as field fever, had been registered in Iran. No deaths were reported, he added.

The Iranian health official said field fever was a bacterial disease found mostly in Iran’s northern provinces and was often contracted by people who swim or wash their hands in stagnant waters contaminated by the feces of rodents.