Teen infected with ultra-deadly ‘eye-bleeding’ virus that kills a third of its victims

 A 14 year-old boy has contracted a lethal infection that kills 30 per cent of patients and causes horrific symptoms such as bleeding from the eyes.

The teenager infected with the virus, called Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), is currently being isolated in hospital. 

The disease, which causes multiple organ failure, is spread via bites from infected ticks or by direct contact with infected animal blood.

The latest patient hails from Pakistan where another suspected case has also been reported. 

Health chiefs said the risk to public health is low, as the disease is usually spread through bites from ticks that are not present in the UK and is not easily transmitted between people. Pictured: stock image of tick 

 While CCHF is endemic in places with warm climates, experts warn it could soon land in the UK.   

While CCHF is endemic in places with warm climates, experts warn it could soon land in the UK.   

Professor Isabel Oliver, chief scientific advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, previously said the risk of the disease infecting Brits may increase due to global warming.

Changing climates may see infected ticks travel further afield and thrive in new environments, experts say.  

A report published last year revealed similar disease-ridden bugs – carrying several diseases including Rift Valley fever – were found in 26 European countries.

Others that health chiefs are on high alert for include dengue fever, chikungunya, West Nile disease, yellow fever and Zika.

Symptoms of CCHF usually appear within three days of a bite from an infected tick, and include fever, muscle ache, dizziness and sore eyes. 

The World Health Organisation say nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and mood swings are also common early signs of the disease. 

Within a week, patients may also suffer racing heartbeat, bleeding skin rashes as well as blood spilling out of small capillaries, such as around the eyes.

Organs such as the liver begin to fail.

Treatments for the condition are limited, although doctors have seen some success with the antiviral drug ribavirin which is used to treat hepatitis C.

The disease was first detected in Crimea in 1944 and given the name Crimean haemorrhagic fever.

But in 1969, medics realised the pathogen that triggered this disease was responsible for an illness identified in the Congo in 1956.

This led to the virus being named Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, to encompass both locations.

It is now endemic in Africa, the Middle East and some Asian countries. 

Previous CCHF outbreaks have killed between 10 and 40 per cent of those infected, according to the WHO. 

In 2022, doctors in London announced they were treating a woman with CCHF who had recently travelled to central Asia. 

This was only the third case recorded in England.

The following year, the virus was detected in France for the first time.

 Live ticks collected from cattle in the Pyrénées Orientales region were found to be harbouring the disease.

Prof Oliver from the UKHSA said the risk to the British public is currently ‘very low’.