sodapix/Thinkstock(STOCKHOLM) — One person has died after contracting a rare tick-borne disease called Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Spain, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The disease, which has symptoms similar to the Ebola virus, has Spanish authorities on alert as a second person, a nurse who cared for the first patient, has also contracted the virus.
“The fatal case had no travel history to exotic countries but had noticed a tick bite after a walk in the countryside,” according to a statement from the ECDC.
The disease is mainly transmitted to people from ticks via livestock, although person-to-person transmission can occur via blood or other bodily fluids.
Symptoms include fever, sore muscles, headache, back ache, and in severe cases, the disease can lead to bleeding from the nose, gastrointestinal system, uterus, and urinary and respiratory tracts. Ticks with the virus are known to live in Spain and those most at risk are people who work with livestock including farmers and butchers.
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