Lassa fever first flared across Nigeria in February 2018, 1081 cases reported in just six weeks,  according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control; 57 people, including four healthcare workers, died. As Lassa cases continued to spike throughout the year, it sparked fears of a new form of the virus or path of transmission.

The fear for scientists and health professionals at the time was that the virus had mutated into a deadlier strain, perhaps one that can be passed through the air, like the flu.  Such a change could be catastrophic.

Genetic sequencing of Lassa virus genomes taken from patients revealed the virus was neither a dangerous new strain nor being passed from person to person through the air; the multifarious results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, pointed to a diverse range of Lassa viruses which had previously been seen in Nigeria, ruling out a new form, and it was determined that the increase had not been caused by a mutation or new route in transmission.

The cases continue to spike this year; from Jan. 1 to Feb. 10. The World Health Organization reported 324 confirmed cases and 72 deaths across Nigeria, the majority of them in Edo and Ondo states in Nigeria’s south. Fatalities are hovering around 20%, which is high for Lassa, and while the virus is not a mutant—the worst-case scenario—the reason for the dramatic rise remains a mystery. On Jan. 22, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control declared the outbreak an emergency.

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike