The South African health organization on Sunday issued an alert to hikers and campers on a possible outbreak of the deadly Congo fever, a contagious haemorrhagic fever,  Xinhua reported.

Congo fever is contracted through a tick bite and was discovered in South Africa in 1981. Since then the country has usually experienced up to 10 cases annually, not all of which resulted in death, according to Dr Lucille Blumberg of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

In 2008, At least three people were confirmed dead in Johannesburg, in an outbreak of what officials believe to be contagious hemorrhagic fever, IRIN News reported.

Blumberg said the risk of Congo fever infection increased in the summer, as people spend more time outdoors.

“People who go hiking or walking in the (wild) can be bitten by common ticks infected with the bacteria,” she said.

The warning came as a 39-year-old woman was receiving treatment in hospital after being bitten by the tick last week.

The symptom of the Congo fever would include a little black scab, high fever and very severe headache.

In South Africa, residents like to trip or picnic outdoors over weekends.

According to the World Health Organisation Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals.

Human-to-human transmission can occur from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected persons. There is no vaccine available for either people or animals

“Around 30 percent of those people who contracted the fever would be possible to die from its virus,” Blumberg warned, but added that though there is no vaccine for the fever, yet “treatment is really supportive.”

Last year five people contracted the Congo fever in South Africa, and all of them survived after being hospitalized.