Lassa fever death toll hits 110 after ‘severe’ outbreak in Nigeria

The Lassa fever death toll in Nigeria has now reached 110 as scientists desperately try to contain the ‘unusually severe’ outbreak.

Fatalities from the killer disease in the African country have rocketed by 22 per cent in the space of just one week, according to the latest official figures.

It comes just days after the UK Government announced that it had deployed a rapid response team to combat Lassa fever.

Global health chiefs say this is the worst outbreak of the deadly bug to have ever rocked Nigeria, with 1,121 suspected cases since January.

Fatalities from Lassa fever have rocketed by 22 per cent in the space of just one week in Nigeria, according to the latest official figures

This year’s outbreak carries a significantly higher death rate than the usual one per cent, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control states.

Health officials have stressed in the latest situation report that Lassa fever is killing nearly 24 per cent of those it strikes.

Four healthcare workers have so far died this year from the infection, which can cause bleeding from the vagina. Two of these occurred last week. 

Elsie Ilori, head of the NCDC’s Lassa Fever Emergency Operations Centre, described the situation as ‘overwhelming’ last week.

In an interview with Bloomberg, she explained that the current outbreak is ‘more than what we have seen before’. 

The Lassa fever outbreak, which has now struck 18 of Nigeria’s 36 states, has already prompted international help from the World Health Organization.

WHAT IS LASSA FEVER?

Scientists first identified the virus causing Lassa fever in 1969. It belongs to the Arenaviridae family.

According to the World Health Organization, only 20 per cent of victims will report any symptoms.

Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and several other countries on the west coast of Africa, including Liberia and Guinea, according to the WHO. 

Symptoms begin with headaches, sore throats and vomiting, but it can trigger bleeding from the mouth, nose or vagina.

However, they gradually progress to shock, seizures, tremors, disorientation and comas without prompt treatment.

A quarter of patients will also experience temporary deafness that will eventually return, medical literature states. 

Pregnant women who contract the disease late in pregnancy face an 80 per cent chance of losing their child or dying themselves. 

It can either be spread by rats or from person-to-person by exposure to bodily fluids of someone who is infected.   

Nigerian officials have already praised efforts in containing the outbreak, which WHO declared as the largest outbreak ever last week.

However, despite the help, they still requested assistance from the UK Government, which announced it would send four specialists to Nigeria.

It is just the sixth time the UK Public Health Rapid Support team has been deployed since it was created two years ago. 

WHEN HAS THE UKPHRST BEEN DEPLOYED? 

The UK Public Health Rapid Support, ran in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, was created in November 2016.

It was established in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis that was officially declared as over at the start of 2016. The haemorrhagic fever killed at least 11,000 across the world, including one in the US.

It has been sent to: 

  • APRIL 2017: Ethiopia (diarrhoea) 
  • APRIL 2017: Nigeria (meningitis) 
  • AUGUST 2017: Sierra Leone (cholera)
  • OCTOBER 2017: Madagascar (plague)
  • DECEMBER 2017: Bangladesh (Diptheria)
  • FEBRUARY 2018: Nigeria (Lassa fever) 

In a statement last week, PHE – which runs the team – described the outbreak of Lassa fever – which can cause bleeding from the vagina – as ‘unusually severe’.

The announcement came several days after the World Health Organization named Lassa fever in its list of pathogens that pose the most ‘urgent’ threat.

The UK-PHRST has sent an expert in patient management, two epidemiologists – the art of tracking diseases – and a logistician to Nigeria.  

The team was created in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis that killed at least 11,000 across the world, including one in the US.

Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and several other countries on the west coast of Africa, including Liberia and Guinea, according to the WHO.

Symptoms begin with headaches, sore throats and vomiting, but it can trigger bleeding from the mouth, nose or vagina.

However, they gradually progress to shock, seizures, tremors, disorientation and comas without prompt treatment.

A quarter of patients will also experience temporary deafness that will eventually return, medical literature states.

Pregnant women who contract the disease late in pregnancy face an 80 per cent chance of losing their child or dying themselves.

It can either be spread by rats or from person-to-person by exposure to bodily fluids of someone who is infected. 



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