Lassa fever: History, causes, effects, and reduction strategies

Promise Tewogbola,Norah Aung

doi:10.14202/ijoh.2020.95-98

Promise Tewogbola, Norah Aung

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14202/ijoh.2020.95-98

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Abstract

Lassa fever is a disease that is not well-known worldwide, particularly due to the inability of the multimammate rat, the primary vector of the Lassa virus, to breed in temperate regions. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the disease and its modus operandi while also providing information about trends in the past decade, as well as proven strategies that have been used to manage its spread.

Highlights

Known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever, is an acute and often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever that is caused by the Lassa virus, which is an enveloped RNA virus from the Arenavirus family of viruses [1,2]
The virus is transmitted to humans through contact with foods and household items that have been contaminated by a zoonotic reservoir, which is usually an infected multimammate rat [1,3]
Lassa fever is endemic in many parts of Nigeria, as well as countries found in the Mano River Union, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia [2]

Summary

Introduction

Known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever, is an acute and often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever that is caused by the Lassa virus, which is an enveloped RNA virus from the Arenavirus family of viruses [1,2]. Lassa fever is endemic in many parts of Nigeria, as well as countries found in the Mano River Union, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia [2]. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 100,000-300,000 individuals are infected with Lassa fever every year, with about 5000 deaths occurring within the same period [6]. Since surveillance efforts are not uniform within the regions where the Lassa fever is endemic [1], the estimates of infected individuals are crude and possibly underreported to a large extent. Surveillance efforts have been biased toward Lassa fever endemic countries, and as a result, there is lower awareness of Lassa fever outside the Copyright: Tewogbola and Aung. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

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Conclusion