Nigeria: Port Harcourt man dies from Lassa fever
A Port Harcourt man has succumbed to the viral hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever, according to a report in the Nigerian news source, The Daily Trust Sunday.
The report states that Rivers State Commissioner for Health Dr. Sampson Parker said that the 33-year-old man died of the lethal pathogen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.
Parker said, “just few days ago my attention was drawn to the isolation of the virus in a suspected case and we lost the patient before any spirited attempt could be made to rescue him.”
An isolation ward has been designated at the hospital designed to contain Lassa, Dr. Parker notes that the Rivers state government has procured sufficient drugs and consumables to manage exposed persons.
Last spring, Nigeria suffered a Lassa fever outbreak in which hundreds of suspected cases were reported. Dozens of people died in the outbreak.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lassa fever is an acute viral illness that occurs in West Africa. The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, is a single-stranded RNA virus and is zoonotic, or animal-borne.
Lassa fever is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. While Lassa fever is mild or has no observable symptoms in about 80% of people infected with the virus, the remaining 20% have a severe multisystem disease.
CDC issues travel notice for Nigeria because of Lassa outbreak (April 2012)
The animal host of Lassa virus is a rodent known as the “multimammate rat” of the genus Mastomys. Humans get infected with Lassa through aerosol or direct contact with excreta from the rodent. Laboratory infections do occur primarily through contaminated needles.
The symptoms of Lassa fever typically occur 1-3 weeks after the patient comes into contact with the virus. These include fever, retrosternal pain (pain behind the chest wall), sore throat, back pain, cough, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, facial swelling, proteinuria (protein in the urine), and mucosal bleeding. Neurological problems have also been described, including hearing loss, tremors, and encephalitis.
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