Infection came from Afghanistan tick bite

By Justin Schuver (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News

Published Thursday, September 17, 2009

A U.S. Army soldier from Covington County died Wednesday in Landstuhl, Germany, after succumbing to a virus he contracted after being bitten by a tick while serving in Afghanistan.

Sgt. E-5 Robert David Gordon II, 22, of River Falls, was stationed close to Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul when the tick bit him, said his aunt, Faye Dean of Andalusia.

“As far as we know, he was bitten by a tick that carried a virus,” said Dean, who has been in contact with Gordon’s family in Germany. “It put him into a coma for five days and they had him on a dialysis machine. He had a heart attack and passed away Wednesday morning (approximately 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Alabama time).”

Dean said doctors determined Gordon contracted the rare Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus, which has been recorded in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. According to the World Health Organization’s Web site, the mortality rate for the CCHF virus is 30 percent.

http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/news/2009/sep/17/virus-claims-local-soldier/