Health officials in Pakistan have urged people to beware of livestock bearing ticks that spread a deadly fever, ahead of the Muslim festival of sacrifice next week.
The government has issued annual safety guidelines as hundreds of thousands of goats, cows and sheep are being transported and readied for slaughter during the Eid ul-Adha festival.
The increase in handling of animals and fresh meat during the festival raises the risk of humans catching the tick-borne viral disease called Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF).
The CCHF viral disease causes no symptoms in livestock, but spreads to people from ticks or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter.
According to the World Health Organisation, it is endemic in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asian countries where the ticks are found. The disease is fatal in up to 40 per cent of cases.
The disease can also spread between humans from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids.
Guidelines issued by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council say livestock farmers, abattoir workers, butchers, veterinary and para-veterinary staff are at particularly high risk of acquiring the disease.
Suggested precautions include keeping away from animals with ticks, disposing of offal properly and ensuring limbs are fully covered when going to markets. Wearing brightly coloured clothes can also mean ticks are easily spotted. Tick repellent should also be used, and slaughter areas thoroughly disinfected.
The guidelines also say meat should not be handled with bare hands, children should be kept away from animals and only professional butchers should be used for slaughter.
Across the border in Afghanistan, health officials have say they have seen a rise in CCHF cases recently as drought has forced farmers to move livestock from rural parts of the north and west to other parts of the country.
The first six months of this year, saw 125 cases and 18 deaths in Afghanistan.
CCHF was first described in Crimea among soldiers and agricultural workers in 1944, and in 1969 it was recognised that the virus causing the disease was identical to a virus isolated from a child in the Congo in 1956.
Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security