The world is currently battling the continuous surge in COVID-19 cases, with the less severe Omicron variant leading to a spike in infections in several nations. The recently recorded death in Britain from Lassa fever has led to regaining global attention. The authorities have announced the first three disease cases in the nation since 2009.
According to the authorities, the patients that have been died at a hospital in Bedfordshire, north of London. All three infected people belong to the same family in the eastern region of England & recently travelled to West Africa.
Lassa fever, an acute viral haemorrhagic illness, also belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses but is much less deadly as compared to them. The name Lassa originates from the town’s name in northern Nigeria, “Lassa”, where the first cases were recorded in 1969. the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a public health body, added close contacts of the patients were being checked with a view to “appropriate assessments, support & advice. Whereas the risk to the general public remains very low.”
The UKSHA has confirmed that two other people had been recently diagnosed with the illness. One of the reported cases has recovered, while the second was receiving special treatment at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust in the northern region of the capital of British. The hospital has a secure unit that specialises in curing viral fevers.
The patient who has succumbed to the contagious mutants was earlier being treated as a suspected case at the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust north of London. Earlier this month, the authorities of Nigeria said that they are currently battling with the spike in cases of the disease that took over dozens of lives.
Lassa Fever-
As per the Centers for Disease Control and Pollution (CDC), the Lassa virus was first found in Western Africa and was first traced in 1969 in the Lassa region of Nigeria. The rats are becoming the reason for spread & is primarily found in nations in Western Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea & Nigeria, where it is endemic.
A person can catch the infection if they come in contact with the household items of food that is infected with the urine of an infected rat. Another reason is that it can also spread, if a person comes in contact with an infected person’s mucous. Transmissibility among person-to-person is more common in healthcare settings.
