No new cases of the deadly Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) were detected on Saturday, much to the relief of everyone and there is also growing confidence that the disease will be contained. The condition of one of the two new CCHF patients detected on Friday, the husband of the first known victim of the fever Amina Momin, has improved with his platelet count rising above 70,000 per microlitre. The condition of the second patient is also stable.

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Dr Paresh Dave, additional director (health), said that no fresh cases of CCHF had been detected on Saturday, but the government and hospitals were prepared for any eventuality.

Reports of some blood samples sent by the hospitals to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, are, however, still awaited. Meanwhile, doctors said that the condition of Rehman Hussain, husband of Ameena Momin improved significantly in the last 24 hours. Rehman was admitted to Sterling Hospital on January 17 but it was only on Friday that it was confirmed that he, too, had CCHF infection.

“Rehman Hussain is responding well to antibiotics, and is improving clinically. As against the normal blood platelet range of 1 lakh to 4 lakh per microlitre, his platelet count had fallen to as low as 17,000.

It increased to 29,000 yesterday and was found to be more than 71,000 today," Dr Kamlesh Patel, consultant microbiologist and in-charge of infection control department at Sterling Hospital, said on Saturday. Dr Patel further said they expected the improvement to continue and Rehman's blood platelet count to cross 1 lakh per microlitre in a day or two. Patel also said that considering the improvement in his condition, they could assume that the virus load in his blood was coming down.

Meanwhile, Prashant Joy, the male nurse at Shalby Hospital, who was confirmed to be carrying CCHF virus, was also reported to be stable. Hospital authorities said he was not showing any symptoms of the infection, and all his vital functions were normal.

"He has been on antibiotics since yesterday when it was confirmed that he had CCHF. He is absolutely fine now. He has been kept in isolation and is under close medical observation. Other than that, he is living as he would on any normal day," said Neeraj Lal, V-P, Quality, Shalby Hospital.