Lassa fever strikes Nigeria and leaves 40 people dead
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari addresses delegates during The India-Africa Summit in New Delhi on October 29, 2015. Nigeria has been struck by Lassa fever. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The minister said so far, laboratory tests had confirmed that 22 of the 86 suspected cases were Lassa fever and results were expected on the remainder.
- Lassa fever is an acute haemorrhagic illness which belongs to the arenarvirus family of viruses, which also includes the Ebola-like Marburg virus.
- The virus, which is endemic in rodents in west Africa, is transmitted to humans by contact with food or household items contaminated with the animals’ faeces and urine.
ABUJA
Forty people have died in 10 states in Nigeria in a suspected outbreak of Lassa fever, Health Minister Isaac Adewole has said.
“The total number of suspected cases reported is 86 and 40 deaths, with a mortality rate of 43.2 per cent,” Adewole told a news conference in Abuja.
The minister said so far, laboratory tests had confirmed that 22 of the 86 suspected cases were Lassa fever and results were expected on the remainder.
Seven of the affected states are in the north — Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Plateau and Gombe — while the remaining three are in the south — Rivers, Edo and Oyo — he added.
The first case of the disease was recorded last November in Bauchi state. Other cases were then reported in Kano and elsewhere.
According to the World Health Organisation, Lassa fever is an acute haemorrhagic illness which belongs to the arenarvirus family of viruses, which also includes the Ebola-like Marburg virus.
People with Lassa fever do not display symptoms in 80 per cent of cases but it can cause serious symptoms and death in the remainder.
The virus, which is endemic in rodents in west Africa, is transmitted to humans by contact with food or household items contaminated with the animals’ faeces and urine.
Person-to-person contact is also possible through bodily fluids, particularly in hospitals when adequate infection control measures are not taken.
The number of Lassa fever infections in west Africa every year is between 100,000 to 300,000, with about 5,000 deaths, according to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Adewole said recorded cases of Lassa fever in Nigeria peaked in 2012 at 1,723 with 112 fatalities but rates have declined since then.
“Most of the cases that we recorded are not through person-to-person contact but the number of deaths is unusual,” Adewole said of the latest outbreak.
He expressed concern about disease notification systems, particularly in Niger state, where unusual deaths in August were not reported for up to four months.
