Lassa fever virus

From Aaushi
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Introduction

included in group of Old World arenaviruses

Epidemiology

  • common in West Africa[3]
  • rarely seen in the United States[3]
  • carried by rodents
  • transmitted to humans through contact with urine or droppings of infected rodents[3]
  • can be transmitted from person to person through direct contact with a sick person's blood or bodily fluids, through mucous membrane, or through sexual contact[3]
  • less likely to be spread from person to person than Ebola virus[3]
  • probably not infectious before the onset of symptoms[3]
  • diagnosed March 2013 in a Minnesota patient who returned from West Africa[2]
  • death of patient returning from Liberia May 2015[3]
  • 43 deaths & 450 ill in Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria, Feb 2018[4]

Pathology

Clinical manifestations

Laboratory

Complications

More general terms

References

  1. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th ed. Fauci et al (eds), McGraw-Hill Inc. NY, 1998, pg 1066-67
  2. 2.0 2.1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) CDC Newsroom. Press Release. Friday, April 4, 2014 Lassa Fever Reported in U.S. Traveler Returning from West Africa http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0404-lassa-fever.html
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 CDC Newsroom. May 25, 2015 Lassa Fever Confirmed in Death of U.S. Traveler Returning from Liberia. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p0525-lassa.html
  4. 4.0 4.1 Adebayo B More than 40 dead in Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria. CNN. Feb 16, 2018 http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/16/health/nigeria-lassa-outbreak-intl
  5. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTV