Lassa Fever in Nigeria
05 Nov 2018
From 1 January to 28 October 2018, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control
reported a total of 565 confirmed and probable cases of lassa fever. Of these cases, 158 have died. Twenty-two states have recorded at least one confirmed case (Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo, Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta, Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe, Ekiti, Kaduna, Abia, Adamawa, and Enugu). The outbreak remains active in 6 states (Edo, Ondo, Ebonyi, Kogi, Delta, and Imo).
Eighty-two percent of all confirmed cases have been from Edo (46 percent), Ondo (23 percent), and Ebonyi (13 percent) states.
Advice for Travellers
Lassa fever presents a low risk to most travellers unless they are living in poor sanitary conditions with overcrowding in rural areas where the host is usually found. Lassa fever is a zoonotic viral disease transmitted via the excreta of an infected Mastomys rat. Healthcare workers are at risk if good infection control and barrier nursing methods are not maintained.
Travellers returning from affected areas who develop symptoms of fever, malaise, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain should seek medical advice.
For further informations see Viral Haemorrhagic Fever.