About 100 People Hospitalized with �Q Fever�

14 May 2004

Yesterday, the Infective Diseases Clinic in Banja Luka received 14 new patients with Q-Fever symptoms, confirmed Srboljub Golubovic, Head of the Clinic. Over the past five days, medical treatment was sought by some 100 people exhibiting the symptoms, 42 of whom were hospitalized, while the rest was sent to domestic care.

"Of the total number of people who sought help at the clinic on Wednesday, 14 exhibited Q-Fever symptoms. The laboratory analysis conducted at the Veterinary Medicine Institute �Dr. Vaso Butozan� will provide exact data on the number of people with Q-fever. The numbers we operate with represent the clinical state of the patients,� said Golubovic.

He added that the personnel of the Banja Luka Clinical Centre, in spite of the long-term deficit of medications and materials, took all the necessary measures to provide for a continuous procurement of medications used in the treatment of Q-Fever cases.

"Over 85% of all patients received for treatment is from Banja Luka, with the rest of them coming from the near-by villages,� emphasized Golubovic. The Public Health Institute of RS proclaimed the existence of Q-Fever epidemics in the Banja Luka Region on Tuesday, May 11.

"For the time being, there is no need to proclaim epidemics in the other cities in RS, having in mind that of the total number, only six cases come from the areas of Laktasi and Prnjavor,� said Mitar Tesanovic from the Public Health Institute.

Zoran Đerić, Chief Veterinary Inspector of RS explained that the Veterinary Inspectorate warned the authorities at the beginning of the year, to redirect the nomadic sheep herds to avoid contact with towns and other settlements.

"In the next several days, a decontamination of the terrain will be conducted in the locations used by the herds. The grass in the parks and meadows grazed by the sheep will be mowed and taken away, and the ground will be disinfected,� announced Đerić.

He added that the Veterinary Inspectors try to determine which herds were carriers of the virus and caused the Q-Fever epidemics.