Lassa fever: Ebola-like virus found in person who travelled to the UK
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Lassa fever case detected in the UK
- Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, has been confirmed in a person who travelled to England from Nigeria.
- Symptoms range from fever, aches, and pains to headache, vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, bleeding.
- The virus is transmitted through contact with rodent waste or bodily fluids of infected individuals, but it does not spread easily between humans.
- While most people recover fully, severe cases have a 15 per cent fatality rate. Early treatment improves survival.
- The UK Health Security Agency assesses the risk to the public as very low and is tracing contacts of the infected individual.