With Eidul Azha less than two weeks away, officials in Balochistan reported two Congo virus cases on Thursday.

       The cases were confirmed by Dr Sadiq Baloch, additional medical superintendent at Quetta's Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital. He said the two patients had been placed in an isolation ward.

       "Their condition is stable," he said. According to the official, one of the patients was an 11-year-old boy from Chaman while the other was a 40-year-old man from Loralai.

       He said both patients came to the hospital complaining of fever and bleeding from the mouth. Baloch added that during the last one-and-a-half month, seven Congo virus patients were brought to the facility.

       Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, or Congo virus, is a viral infection transmitted by ticks to both animals and humans. The virus is transmitted by ticks living on the skin of goats, cows, buffalos and camels, feeding on their blood. The disease is rare in infected animals, who mostly act as carriers of the disease which they transmit.

       It is prevalent in Asia, Africa, Middle East and South Eastern Europe and is more common between March to October.

       Read: What you need to know about the Congo virus

       A day earlier, the National Institute of Health (NIH) had issued an alert for infectious diseases in the country.

       In the letter, NIH revealed patterns of high-priority communicable diseases, including hepatitis (A and E), cholera, Covid-19, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Den-gue fever, Leishmaniasis, malaria, measles, polio and XDR typhoid.

       The main purpose of the letter was to make all health authorities and professionals alert for timely and efficient response to outbreaks. The letter was written for the summer/monsoon season.