Lassa Fever

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The Lagos State Government, yesterday, disclosed that there is no new case of Lassa fever recorded in the state.

Lassa-feverIt also said that the index case, a 25-year-old male undergraduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, is presently responding to treatment in the hospital.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris while briefing newsmen at the weekend, urged residents to remain calm over the outbreak of Lassa fever, saying everything possible was being done to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Confirming the occurrence of the first case of Lassa fever in the state, Idris explained that the patient was reported to have fallen ill after he arrived Lagos and “was taken to Ahmadiyyah Hospital, Ojokoro on January 9, 2016 with complaint of fever, sore throats and difficulty in swallowing before he was later taken to Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, where he is currently been isolated for treatment.

“The patient is presently being managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and his condition is stable”, he added.

Besides, he said that “Ahmmadiyyah Hospital, where the first case of the disease in Lagos was reported, is now under surveillance and there will be no service delivery in the facility until further notice. The 15 in-patients as well as 25 health workers in the facility are being monitored for the next 21 days. Contacts tracing is ongoing; and currently we have 92 contacts and all are being followed up.”

However, when contacted yesterday, a source at the state Ministry of Health, who preferred anonymity, said, “As I speak, there is no fresh case of Lassa in Lagos, the only index case is responding to treatment under stable condition and contacts are all under strict surveillance while facilities; and isolation centres have been prepared to manage suspected and confirmed cases.”

Though, Lassa fever and Ebola Virus Disease are said to belong to the same Viral Haemorrhagic Fever group, Lassa Fever is milder and can be treated and cured if detected early. Therefore, any persistent fever should be reported to the nearest public health facility.

Idris however, urged members of the public and health workers to report any case or symptoms of persistent high fever not responding to standard treatment for malaria and typhoid fever to the nearest health facility or call the following lines:, 08037170614, 08022234273, 08022241768 08033065303, 08033086660, 08055281442 and 08023169485.

Assuring the Lagosians, Idris said “Government is fully prepared to manage the situation and as such people should not panic for whatever reasons.

The Lagos State Government as part of its mandate remains committed to ensuring that the well being of the people is assured. We will not compromise on our commitment to a healthy and happy state.”

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Lassa fever is endemic in parts of west Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria; however, other neighboring countries are also at risk, as the animal vector for Lassa virus, the “multimammate rat” (Mastomys natalensis) is distributed throughout the region. In 2009, the first case from Mali was reported in a traveler living in southern Mali; Ghana reported its first cases in late 2011. Isolated cases have also been reported in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and there is serologic evidence of Lassa virus infection in Togo and Benin.

The number of Lassa virus infections per year in west Africa is estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, with approximately 5,000 deaths. Unfortunately, such estimates are crude, because surveillance for cases of the disease is not uniformly performed. In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is known that 10 -16 per cent of people admitted to hospitals every year have Lassa fever, which indicates the serious impact of the disease on the population of this region.

Individuals at greatest risk of Lassa virus infection are those who live in or visit endemic regions, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria and have exposure to the multimammate rat. Risk of exposure may also exist in other west African countries where Mastomys rodents exist. Hospital staff are not at great risk for infection as long as protective measures and proper sterilization methods are used.

Primary transmission of the Lassa virus from its host to humans can be prevented by avoiding contact with Mastomys rodents, especially in the geographic regions where outbreaks occur. Putting food away in rodent-proof containers and keeping the home clean help to discourage rodents from entering homes. Using these rodents as a food source is not recommended. Trapping in and around homes can help reduce rodent populations; however, the wide distribution of Mastomys in Africa makes complete control of this rodent reservoir impractical.

When caring for patients with Lassa fever, further transmission of the disease through person-to-person contact or nosocomial routes can be avoided by taking preventive precautions against contact with patient secretions (called VHF isolation precautions or barrier nursing methods). Such precautions include wearing protective clothing, such as masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles; using infection control measures, such as complete equipment sterilization; and isolating infected patients from contact with unprotected persons until the disease has run its course.

Further, educating people in high-risk areas about ways to decrease rodent populations in their homes will aid in the control and prevention of Lassa fever. Other challenges include developing more rapid diagnostic tests and increasing the availability of the only known drug treatment, ribavirin. Research is presently under way to develop a vaccine for Lassa fever.