ABSTRACT
Nigeria is presently suffering from another Lassa fever epidemic. This was confirmed in the statement of the Minister of Health of the Federation in which he said; ""There has been an upsurge in the reported cases of Lassa fever since the beginning of this year; especially in the Federal Capital Territory and its environs. Within two weeks; 12 cases with five deaths due to the disease were recorded. 25 contacts are confirmed by laboratory investigations to have been infected; including 4 health staff working in the National Hospital; Abuja.""1 Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa in Borno state; Nigeria.2 It is endemic in West African countries; and causes 300;000 cases annually with 5000 deaths.3 Lassa fever epidemics occur in Nigeria; Liberia; Sierra Leone; Guinea and the Central African Republic.4 Lassa virus; the agent of the disease is a member of the Arenaviridae family. The virus is pleomorphic with single-stranded and bisegmented RNA genome.3 Its primary host is Natal Multimammate Mouse (Mastomys natalensis). Transmission to man occurs via exposure to the rat excrement through respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts5; exposure of broken skin or mucus membrane to infected material; direct contact; sexually and transplacentally. The prevalence of antibodies to the virus is 8-229 in Sierra Leone; 4-55in Guinea;12 and 21in Nigeria.13 The disease is mild or asymptomatic in 80of infected people; but 20have a severe multisystemic disease. Clinical features are difficult to differentiate from that of other viral haemorrhagic fevers and common febrile illness such as Malaria; Typhoid fever and so on. Definitive diagnosis is by viral isolation; Antigen and Antibody detection and Reverse Transcriptase PCR. Treatment is with Ribavirin; an antiviral agent. No vaccine is currently available. Prevention is by keeping rats away from homes