A dire warning has been issued that a deadly virus currently spreading across Europe will inevitably reach the UK. According to an expert, it's not a matter of if, but when this will happen.
The containment measures used during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lockdowns, will be ineffective against the transmission of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), as confirmed by the same expert speaking to Mirror.
This virus has already claimed lives in Iraq, Pakistan, and Namibia, and new cases are emerging throughout Europe.
Professor James Wood, who recently addressed Parliament's Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee, stated: "I mean, it's a kind of when rather than if, I think all in all likelihood.
"There is a risk of spread given the way that diseases emerging."
The expert stressed that implementing a lockdown would not be suitable for containing CCHF, which presents symptoms such as unpleasant rashes and neck pain.
Prof Wood, an academic from the University of Cambridge, further explained: "You'd be unlikely to get the sort of respiratory transmission. So even say, I don't want to call them extreme lockdown enthusiasts, but, someone who thinks that these measures are very important to, to impose straightaway, I don't think it would be appropriate as it's not right for this form of infection."
While CCHF is primarily transmitted through ticks, which are often carried by migratory birds, the likelihood of human-to-human transmission is lower. However, with the impact of global warming leading to the movement of various tick species towards warmer regions, the UK may become susceptible to the virus, especially considering the return of June's heatwave.
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