{"id":52049,"date":"2019-11-26T09:33:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T01:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=52049"},"modified":"2019-11-26T09:33:29","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T01:33:29","slug":"dutch-doctor-dies-after-contracting-lassa-fever-in-sierra-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=52049","title":{"rendered":"Dutch doctor dies after contracting Lassa Fever in Sierra Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.brudirect.com\/images\/news\/20191125_africa.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">Rodents spread Lassa virus via their urine and droppings.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMSTERDAM\/FREETOWN,\u00a0Nov 22\u00a0(NNN-AGENCIES)\u00a0&#8212;\u00a0<\/strong>A Dutch doctor who was evacuated from Sierra Leone after contracting Lassa fever has died in a Dutch hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The medic was flown home on Tuesday after being infected in the northern Sierra Leone town of Masanga, an area not previously known to have been affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He reportedly developed symptoms of the viral haemorrhagic illness after operating on a pregnant woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second Dutch doctor who was also evacuated is being treated for the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Described as a cousin of Ebola, Lassa fever is endemic in eastern Sierra Leone but cases have also been reported in northern and southern parts of the country in the last five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is also endemic in neighbouring Liberia, Guinea and several other West African states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The doctor died while being treated in &#8220;strict isolation&#8221; at a hospital in the city of Leiden, Dutch Health Minister Bruno Bruins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The minister confirmed that a second doctor was in an isolation ward in hospital in the central city of Utrecht after being infected with the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The doctors, who have not been named, were linked to a medical charity and had been working at a hospital in Masanga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement, Sierra Leone&#8217;s Health Ministry said the deceased doctor showed symptoms of Lassa fever after performing a Caesarean section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He developed signs of fever, headache, and general malaise&#8230; and was treated for typhoid, malaria and influenza but symptoms persisted,&#8221; it said. He was then airlifted to the Netherlands where he was diagnosed with the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The doctor had also helped with the evacuation of a second woman who suffered from a septic wound after an abortion. Both women died shortly afterwards. &#8212; NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rodents spread Lassa virus via their urine and droppings. AMSTERDAM\/FREETOWN,\u00a0Nov 22\u00a0(NNN-AGENCIES)\u00a0&#8212;\u00a0A Dutch doctor who was evacuated from Sierra Leone after contracting Lassa fever has died in a Dutch hospital. The medic was flown home on Tuesday after being infected in the northern Sierra Leone town of Masanga, an area not previously known to have been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213,209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52049"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}