RAWALPINDI: A woman suspected of suffering from Congo virus was admitted to the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Tuesday.

The Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) patient was brought from Kallar Kahar in Chakwal with symptoms making the doctors suspect she is suffering from the virus.

`The patient`s condition is improving fast,` said Dr Javed Hayyat, the doctor in charge of the infectious diseases ward at HFH.

The doctor said that samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for confirmation of Congo fever and a report will arrive in a day or two. He said that the HFH has taken precautionary measures, in accordance with the protocol issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to prevent the disease from spreading.

The first case of CCHF was reported in Rawalpindi in 1976 and a Dr Mateen also died while treating a Congo vVirus patient at the Central General Hospital, now called the Benazir Bhutto Hospital. In 2002, a 25-year-old intern physician Dr Farzana at the Holy Family Hospital also died while treating a patient.

In September 2010, eight staff members at the HFH including four women, contracted the disease but fortunately survived.