Nigeria Hit by Unprecedented Lassa Fever Outbreak

This year, the rats that carry Lassa fever may be more numerous, or more likely to harbor the virus.  Photo: Reuters/Stringer

CLICK HERE - reliefweb - Nigeria: Lassa Fever Outbreak

CLICK HERE - WHO - Nigeria - Lassa Fever

science.sciencemag.org - by Leslie Roberts - March 16, 2018

By early January, it was clear something “really, really extraordinary” was going on in Nigeria, says Lorenzo Pomarico of the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA). Cases of Lassa fever, a rare viral hemorrhagic disease, were skyrocketing across the country—more were recorded in the first 2 months of 2018 than in any previous year. Unprepared for a disease that has no vaccines or drugs and kills 20% to 30% of those it sickens, eight health care workers were infected early on and three died. “Something was going very wrong with the outbreak,” Pomarico says.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED INFORMATION HERE - ProMED mail - Lassa Fever - West Africa - Nigeria