The current Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria is the largest recorded outbreak of the virus in the country, with about 1,400 suspected cases and more than 300 cases so far being confirmed in 2018, and case numbers are increasing (NCDC 18 March 2018; WHO, 19 March 2018). The disease was first identified in Lassa, Nigeria, in 1969, after an outbreak in a mission hospital. Lassa virus is endemic in many West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria, and when transmitted from its natural reservoir to humans, it can cause life-threatening haemorrhagic fever. Humans can become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats but also through direct contact with bodily fluids of a patient infected with Lassa fever or through contaminated medical equipment.
Continued efforts to contain the outbreak are underway. A national Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre was activated in Abuja, Nigeria, on 22 January, to coordinate response activities in collaboration with the WHO and other partners. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which was established in response to the challenges of public health emergencies and to enhance Nigeria's preparedness and response to epidemics, and the WHO have intensified their responses, which include clinical case management, contact tracing, mobilizing a network of healthcare workers at hospitals, infection control measures and building public awareness.
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