By Kemo Cham
[First published on Politicosl] A US doctor working with
missionaries in Togo has been taken into an isolation ward at a US hospital
after been diagnosed with a suspected Lassa Fever infection.
The patient was flown out of West
Africa on Thursday, reports indicate.
Lassa Fever is a highly deadly
hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola. They both are viral diseases.
Lassa Fever is usually acquired from
infected rats.
Nigeria has been battling the viral
outbreak for the last few months after the 2014/2015 Ebola epidemic subsided.
It is believed that the Nigerian outbreak may be spreading to its neighbouring
countries.
The US patient was flown out in a
specially equipped aircraft from Togo and was expected to arrive at Emory University
Hospital the next day.
The isolation ward is where Emory
successfully treated four Ebola patients in 2014.
Lassa fever has been endemic in
Africa for many years, with up to 300,000 infections annually.
Only about 3
percent presenting symptoms severe enough need hospitalization, according to
scientists.
Some 159 suspected cases of Lassa
fever and 82 deaths have been reported between August 2015 and January 2016,
according to WHO figures.
(C) Politico 17/03/16
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