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- Ελληνικά
The first patient death of Lassa fever has been recorded in the United Kingdom, according to the UK Health Protection Agency.
In total, three cases of this viral haemorrhagic fever, caused by an Ebola-like virus[/B], although milder in nature, have been confirmed.
The death was recorded in the county of Bedfordshire in eastern England, where the first two cases were confirmed on Wednesday. They involved two members of the same family who had recently visited West Africa, where Lassa fever has become endemic. The victim was a relative.
Since 1989 only eight cases of the disease had been recorded in the UK, with the last two cases identified in 2009.
Lassa fever is usually caused by exposure to food or objects contaminated with urine or faeces from infected rats. It can be transmitted through patient body fluids.
The virus has a mortality rate of about 1%, but kills nearly 15% of carriers requiring hospitalization.
The symptoms of the disease begin gradually, with fever and malaise, then headache, muscle aches and possibly vomiting. In severe cases, the virus causes facial swelling, fills the lungs with fluid and causes heavy bleeding from the mouth, nose and even the eyes.
There is no vaccine or treatment to treat it. In West Africa it is now endemic, with 100,000 infections and 5,000 deaths every year. There is currently an outbreak in Nigeria, where 211 cases and 40 deaths have been recorded since the beginning of the year.
The Health Security Agency UK has announced that it has begun a contact tracing operation of the carriers, one of whom has already recovered after hospitalisation. The service stresses that the risk to wider public health is low.
Source: CNA
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