Four die of haemorrhagic fever in southern Russia: report

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

MOSCOW (AFP) — Four people have died in an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever and 39 others have come down with the illness in the Stavropol region of southern Russia, local authorities reported Wednesday.

The fatalities were two men and two women, regional health official Irina Kovalchuk told Interfax news agency.

Three of the victims caught the viral infection, which has flu-like symptoms, while working with cattle and the fourth from a tick in the forest.

Around 300 people were struck down with the fever in January 2007 in the Voronezh region 600 kilometres (360 miles) south of Moscow. The outbreak was blamed on the proliferation of rodents after an exceptionally mild winter.

© 2008 AFP