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| London Hospital |
LONDON, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two persons in the United Kingdom who travelled recently to West Africa have been diagnosed with Lassa fever, an acute viral haemorrhagic illness, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced.
The Agency said that the cases were within the same family in the East of England who had returned from West Africa, adding that a further case of the disease was being investigated.
It added that one of the cases, however, had recovered, while the other was receiving specialist care in hospital.
Before the current occurrence, eight cases of Lassa fever had been identified in the UK since 1980, with the last two occurring in 2009.
Dr Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor at the UKHSA, said: “Cases of Lassa fever are rare in the UK and it does not spread easily between people.
“The overall risk to the public is very low.
“We are contacting the individuals who have had close contact with the cases prior to confirmation of their infection, to provide appropriate assessment, support and advice.”
She added: “UKHSA and the NHS [National Health Service] have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be reinforced.”
The UKHSA said that people usually became infected with Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated by infected rats, and that the disease was endemic in West Africa.
The virus can also be spread through infected bodily fluids, according to the UKHSA, which added that most people with Lassa fever would make a full recovery.
Imported cases rarely occur elsewhere in the world, according to the UKHSA, which pointed out that such cases were almost exclusively in people who worked in endemic areas in high-risk occupations, such as medical or other aid workers. — NNN-AGENCIES
