Deadly eye-bleeding virus ‘making its way to UK’ as it sweeps through France
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A deadly virus that has been found in France for what officials say is the first time as scientists worry it could be on its way to the UK.
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) makes sufferers' eyes bleed and could be about to land on British shores. It has been picked up in ticks in the Pyrénées Orientales on France's north-eastern border with Spain.
French public health authorities issued an update earlier this week, saying: "No autochthonous cases (infections caught in the country) have been detected in humans in France to date."
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The rare virus is generally found in warmer climates. Because of this, it is found more commonly in places like Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia.
The virus has a mortality rate of around 40%, according to the World Health Organisation. And while the death toll is high among those who catch it, Brits haven't historically had much cause for concern.
But despite its rarity and typical patterns, Brit scientists have warned that due to climate change, it could be expanding beyond its usual remit.
Between 2016 and 2022, seven cases were found in Spain. Three of those people died. Head of Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge University, Professor James Wood, said at a recent parliament Science, Innovation and Technology Committee meeting that the virus could make it to the UK "through our ticks at some point".
However UK Health Security Agency, Professor Isabel Oliver, stressed the risk facing the population is currently “very low”.
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