Greek ostriches, cattle to be inspected after woman dies from tick bite

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

ATHENS (AFP) — Greece on Thursday said it would run health inspections on ostrich farms and cattle in the north of the country after a woman died from a tick-borne haemorrhagic fever.

The Greek agriculture ministry ordered the check after the 49-year-old woman, a resident of Rhodope prefecture near the border with Turkey, died last week, the semi-official Athens News Agency (ANA) said.

"An epidemiological study will be held in ostrich and small ruminant farms in Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus and the northern Aegean islands," the ministry said in a statement.

The woman died of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a tick-borne viral disease common in eastern Europe, Asia and eastern Africa according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"Ticks are...