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WHO scrambles to contain growing Lassa fever outbreak in West Africa
The World Health Organisation is scrambling to contain what is set to be the worst outbreak of Lassa fever in recorded history, after the Ebola-like virus killed 59 people in West Africa in recent weeks.
Health officials warned they were facing an unprecedented crisis after the confirmation of at least 275 cases of the haemorrgahic fever in Nigeria, the epicentre of the outbreak, since the beginning of the year.
Although Lassa is endemic in parts of West Africa, and outbreaks are a near yearly occurrence, the WHO says it is alarmed by how rapidly the disease is spreading.
“We are concerned by the high number of cases so early in the Lassa fever season, which is expected to last another four months,” said Ibrahima Fall, the WHO's regional emergencies director for Africa.
“WHO is working with the health authorities in the five affected countries to ensure health workers have the capacity to detect cases and we are monitoring the regional spread of the disease."
Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control formally declared a Lassa outbreak in the middle of January. The number of cases has now reached half the total recorded last year, which was itself the biggest outbreak in history.
All but two of the deaths have been in Nigeria, where suspected cases have been reported in 19 of country's 36 states.
There have also been 12 confirmed cases in Benin, Togo, Guinea and Liberia, with health experts warning that the fever could spread to six more African states: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone.
Controlling Lassa is always a challenge because it is so difficult to diagnose. Four out of five victims do not show symptoms in the early stages of the disease, the only time when treatment can be effective.
Symptoms can also be vague, ranging from headaches and chest pain. In severe cases, Lassa is terrifyingly horrific: the face swells, fluid fills the lungs, organs like the liver, spleen and kidneys fail and blood seeps out of the nose, mouth, genital orifices and gastrointestinal tract.
Survival rates are normally above 80 percent — higher than in Ebola — but of those who do live, a quarter become deaf.
In four-fifths of cases, the disease is caught from exposure to rat urine and droppings, but it can be also be spread from human to human, making safe treatment difficult.
Nigerian authorities say that nine health workers have contracted Lassa since the outbreak began, one of whom has died.
The WHO says it has stepped up efforts to contain the outbreak, forming a regional coordination mechanism to share, process and evaluate information about suspected cases.
It has also intensified a public awareness drive, encouraging people in affected areas about how to deter rats. This includes storing grains in rodent-proof containers, disposing of rubbish far from human dwellings, washing hands before meals and keeping cats.
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