KARACHI: A 28-year-old butcher has died from Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Karachi, health authorities confirmed on Friday, the sixth death in Pakistan this year from the tick-borne virus.
All six deaths in 2025 have occurred in the southern Sindh province, including five in Karachi, the provincial capital and Pakistan’s largest city.
Congo virus spreads through tick bites, livestock contact or infected blood. It causes high fever, muscle pain and bleeding and has a high fatality rate. There is no vaccine or specific cure.
In the latest case, the patient, identified by the Sindh health department only by his first name Zubair, was admitted to Jinnah Hospital on Sept. 24 with fever, hematemesis, melena, low blood pressure and tachycardia. He was suspected of having Congo virus and placed in isolation but died the same day.
“A Lab confirmed Crimean- Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) reported from on September 26th 2025,” the Sindh health department notification said.
“After verification, surveillance team investigated the cases and collected information regarding exposure, contact history and associated risk factors.”
The first fatality for 2025 was reported in June and the last in August.
Pakistan reported its first Congo virus case in 1976 and continues to see sporadic outbreaks, mainly in rural areas and in provinces such as southwestern Balochistan, which recorded 23 cases and five deaths last year.
