Mystery disease in S.Africa may be Congo fever

By Michael Georgy JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A mystery disease that has killed three people in South Africa and put medical authorities on high alert may be Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, a health official said on Tuesday. "We suspect that it may be Congo hemorrhagic fever but we have not made a diagnosis yet," Frew Benson, the South African Health Department's deputy director of communicable diseases, told Reuters. South African health officials said they were closely monitoring the illness, which causes external and internal bleeding, but called on the public not to panic. There were no signs it was airborne. Officials said on Tuesday they were observing a total of 111 people who had come into contact with the deceased patients. "These are mostly people who may have had specific high risk contact with the patients. They are... [read full story]