By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
This week, the Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone formally notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the Lassa fever outbreak in the country.
The first confirmed case-patient was a male Dutch medical doctor who worked in Masanga hospital, Tonkolili District, who later died in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Later, a second Lassa fever case was confirmed in a female Dutch healthcare worker, who worked (alongside the first confirmed case to perform two surgical procedures) in Masanga hospital.
To date, the Lassa fever cluster has accounted for eight cases, including three deaths.
As of today, a total of 48 contacts have been identified and are being monitored in Denmark, Germany, Sierra Leone, The Netherlands, Uganda and United Kingdom.
The Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone, supported by US CDC and WHO, has deployed the national rapid response team to conduct outbreak investigations in all areas with links to this event, including Tonkolili and Bombali districts.
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Lassa fever is notoriously nosocomial in countries with poor IPC settings. Laboratory staff using contaminated needles and sharps are on a few occasions account for index cases. Secondary person to person spread through imported cases have been observed.
The lack of interest in the development of a vaccine is certainly not unconnected with the high economic premium placed by European and USA in terms of large market and profit before embarking on vaccine development. West Africa is both a small region with
many poverty striken countries.
Secondly the heterogeneity of the primary hosts may lead to different virus types.