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Sajjad Haider and colleagues1 recently reported on the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) outbreaks in Pakistan. CCHF virus (CCHFV) is a highly virulent pathogen that has caused 10 000 human infections globally.2 However, Haider and colleagues1 reported data regarding CCHF-positive cases in just three big cities in Pakistan (Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Quetta). Therefore, there is a need for thorough surveillance of CCHF in all provinces of Pakistan so that the objective of controlling and preventing CCHF can be achieved.
Between January and October, 2016, 483 patients with suspected CCHF were admitted to hospitals located across all provinces of Pakistan, and we prospectively tested their serum samples by CCHFV-specific IgG using ELISA kits, as previously described.3 Of these 483 patients, 86 were positive for CCHFV. Balochistan had the highest number of positive cases (38 [44%] of 86 positive patients). The other provinces that had positively confirmed CCHFV cases were Sindh with 17%, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 17%, Punjab with 13%, and...