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Lassa Fever: Nigeria

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Technophobe View Drop Down
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    Posted: January 16 2018 at 11:57am

Three dead from incurable 'MOUTH-BLEEDING' virus as fears spread of dozens more cases

A BRUTAL disease spread by rats that causes victims' mouths to bleed has killed three people.

Published 16th January 2018


Lassa fever, which kills 5,000 a year, has broken out in Nigeria.

Two doctors and a nurse have died and one more is still in hospital, as health officials have warned that the disease is spreading fast.

Lassa fever is a viral disease similar to the feared Black Death that is caused by coming into contact with food or household items contaminated with rat urine or faeces.

It can also be spread between humans through contact with infected body fluids.

Symptoms include a fever, facial swelling, and muscle fatigue, as well as bleeding from the mouth.

It accounts for up to one-third of deaths in hospitals with Lassa fever cases.

The Ebonyi State government's health commissioner Dr Daniel Umezurike said that 12 samples had been taken of possible cases.

All of the victims worked at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, 330 miles east of the country's largest city Lagos.

The head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that the country's Ministry of Health was working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to coordinate a response to the deadly disease.

He said: "The NCDC has provided urgently required medical supplies and drugs to support case management in the state."

He went on: "Health care workers in health facilities are particularly at risk of contracting the disease, especially where infection prevention and control procedures are not strictly adhered to."

There is currently no vaccine for Lassa fever, but locals have been warned to take all possible steps to stop rats from entering their house or getting into food supplies.

Health official Dr Uche Unigwe said that the disease has spread, and there are now more than 20 reported cases in the country.

It comes as the Ugandan government confirmed that an 'eye-bleeding fever' has broken out in the country.

Last week there was panic after a nine-year-old girl dropped dead in the country from the same strange disease.

And yesterday an 'Ebola-like' plague killed a boy of eight in Jamaica.


Source, photos and map:   https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/674437/black-death-lassa-fever-outbreak-africa-mouth-bleeding-virus-nigeria-abakaliki-plague

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CRS, DrPH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 16 2018 at 7:50pm
^Worth watching!  Ebola made its way from Liberia to Nigeria, and since Nigeria has very large cities, this could explode.  


The number of Lassa virus infections per year in west Africa is estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, with approximately 5,000 deaths. Unfortunately, such estimates are crude, because surveillance for cases of the disease is not uniformly performed. In some areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is known that 10%-16% of people admitted to hospitals every year have Lassa fever, which indicates the serious impact of the disease on the population of this region.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 16 2018 at 10:13pm
‘Eye-bleeding fever’ outbreak CONFIRMED: Fears of PANDEMIC as disease hits SECOND country

HEALTH bosses have confirmed they are facing an outbreak of the “eye-bleeding fever” after four people died of the suspected disease in weeks.

VHF causes victims to suffer a burning fever before beginning to bleed from orifices including their eyes, anuses and mouths.

It comes after a girl, nine, was reportedly killed by the infection Uganda, and three people died in neighbouring South Sudan of similar symptoms.

Uganda health minster Sarah Opendi confirmed emergency response teams are now being deployed to the districts of Nakaseke and Luweero.

She also identified the mystery disease, saying tests have revealed the infection is Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).

Today, health minister Opendi said: "Results from Uganda Virus Research Institute tested positive for the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever and negative for other viral Hemorrhagic Fevers like Ebola, Marburg, Rift Valley Fever and Sosua.”

The confirmation comes after just two weeks ago the Ugandan Health Ministry denied there was an outbreak.

Positive tests for CCHF came from samples taken from a 9-year-old paitent Kihwoko Hospital.

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) have already said they were monitoring for an outbreak after reports in South Sudan.

CCHF is spread to humans via tick bites or contact with raw meat and infected animal blood immediately after slaughter.

"CCHF outbreaks constitute a threat to public health services because of its epidemic potential, its high case fatality ratio (10-40%), its potential for nosocomial outbreaks and the difficulties in treatment and prevention,” WHO’s description of the virus reads.

WHO first raised fears of a VHF outbreak in central Africa with a report of a number of deaths in South Sudan.

A pregnant woman, and two teenagers all succumbed to a mystery infection along with a number of animals.

However, it is not confirmed whether these deaths are also from CCHF or a separate similar strain of VHF.

Outbreak in the nation could be catastrophic – with South Sudan bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Congo and the Central African Republic.

There were fears up to 60 people could be infected, and are each undergoing analysis by a team from the Sudanese health ministry and WHO.

In a recent report, WHO wrote: "The outbreak of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever in South Sudan could rapidly evolve, and critical information including laboratory confirmation of the etiology of disease is needed to direct response efforts.

"Strengthened surveillance in affected human and animal populations is needed to facilitate rapid detection of human and animal cases and response.

“Strengthened capacity to clinically manage any new cases is also needed in the affected area.”

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/674262/Outbreak-Africa-Viral-Hemorrhagic-Fever-Uganda-Crimean-Congo-Deaths-Eye-Bleeding-Opendi
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2018 at 1:49pm
Ebola,Marberg,Lassa,

in reality non of these Viruses has the potencial to "get legs"and become a real health hazzard,

WHY,because it requires direct contact with body fluids to get any of them,( lassa  spread by rats may be the exception)

however,.....

that could all change if any of them aquired the ability to go "Airbourne"

i believe there is a Strain of Ebola that has that bit of RNA 

but with that it lost its KILL the Human BIT of RNA,

i am open to correction on that one though 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2018 at 2:38pm
About right, Carbon: I can't see eny of them becoming a real threat.  But, what do I know?  I have been surprised before.

The tabloid news comics may enjoy a big headline, but the way I see it,  this is definitely  NOT  the time to worry, however I intend to keep watching - just in case.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2018 at 3:17pm
As humans penetrate deeper and deeper into, what was once uninhabited darkest jungles,all over Africa ,and South America,the potential risk to a very very Nasty virus finding its way into the general populace,,increases expotentaly,,never mind the risk of one coming from the expected place, i.e. Asia.....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote EdwinSm, Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2018 at 12:40am
The following is an opinion piece commissioned by the BBC written by Dr Charlie Weller Head of Vaccines, Wellcome Trust : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43211086



It sounds bad:
Quote Lassa fever normally has a fatality rate of about one per cent. But in the Nigerian outbreak it is thought to be more than 20% among confirmed and probable cases, according to the country's Centre for Disease Control.
...

About 90 people are thought to have died so far, but the true number may be much higher, because Lassa is so hard to diagnose.

Women who contract the disease late in pregnancy face an 80% chance of losing their child, or dying themselves.

In the early stages it's almost impossible to distinguish from other common diseases like malaria and dengue.



Lots more information in the article, detailed but presented in a clear manner.
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