Two mass have been diagnose with Lassa fever in England , while another potential sheath is under investigation , theUK Health Security Agency(UKHSA ) has reassert .
The two cases , within the same family in the East of England , have been linked to recent travel to West Africa , where the virus is endemic in the population . One of the sheath has already recovered , but the other is still being care for at a specialist impregnable care whole at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust . Fortunately , most hoi polloi can fully recover from the disease , specially if handling is promptly receive .
“ typeface of Lassa febricity are rarefied 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 faithful link with the cases prior to confirmation of their infection , to provide appropriate appraisal , living , and advice , " Dr Susan Hopkins , Chief Medical Advisor at UKHSA , enjoin in astatement .
Lassa feveris an acute viral haemorrhagic illness triggered by the Lassa computer virus . Around 80 percent of citizenry infected with the Lassa computer virus have no symptom , but some can develop a severe disease involving tiredness , fever , and weakness , followed by a cephalalgia , sore pharynx , muscle painful sensation , chest painfulness , sickness , vomiting , looseness , cough , and abdominal pain .
grant to theCDC , between 100,000 to 300,000 infections occur each year , with approximately 5,000 deaths .
human race typically become infected with the virus through exposure to intellectual nourishment or household items contaminate with urine or feces of septic Mastomys puke ( Mastomys natalensis ) find in sub - Saharan Africa .
It ’s the first showcase found in the UK for over a 10 . Before this later outbreak , there have been just eight cases of Lassa fever account in the UK since 1980 , all of which have been imported from masses trip to character of the existence where the virus is endemic . In all of these slip , there was no onward transmission to others and the virus was successfully contained .
