- Matt Freesey & Nicky Fox
- BBC East
Image source, Alamy
The lassa virus, which is related to the Ebola virus type, is endemic in many African countries.
Three people have been diagnosed with a new type of flu virus in the UK, the Lassa flu virus. One of the infants died.
The outbreak has raised concerns that the Ebola virus and the Lassa virus, which have caused major damage on the African continent, are related.
The infant died at Ludan Un Dunstable Hospital last week. The baby was one of three people in the same family infected with the virus.
Two of them were first admitted to Cambridge Attenborough Hospital and later transferred to London Hospital. Hundreds of staff from both hospitals were found to have been in contact with these patients.
Thus, the East England Division of the British National Health Service has declared it a ‘major regional incident’.
The UKHSA (UKHSA), the UK’s health and safety agency, has not commented on the Lassa flu deaths. However, contact search operations are reported to be underway.
Dr. Susan Hopkins, Uxa’s primary medical consultant, said the trio’s infection was related to a trip to West Africa.
Precautionary isolation action
Cambridge University Hospital, which runs Attenborough Hospital, is a subsidiary of the NHS. The BBC has seen an email from the trust to its staff.
The emails stated, “Our staff, identified during the contact operation, are being asked to undergo 14 days of precautionary isolation. They are also being told not to communicate with patients for 21 days.”
“As expected, this is affecting the size of our staff. Thus, there is a need to temporarily shut down significant levels of acute illness. Lassa fever is rare in the UK. We assure you that it does not spread so easily among humans. “Said the e-mail.
According to the BBC, the new ward at Luton’s Dunstable Hospital’s pediatric ward has been closed.
Image source, Getty Images
A health worker in Sierra Leone with a rat that could transmit the lassa virus to humans by mixing her urine and feces into food and household items.
This is the first case of lassa fever in the UK in more than a decade.
Most people who suffer from lassa fever will recover. For some, the disease may worsen.
Health Secretary Sajid Javed said the situation was under control.
In the UK, the flu has only been diagnosed in 8 people since 1980, before the 3 newly diagnosed infections. The last time the two were diagnosed was in 2009.
The guideline for the disease suggests that the virus is most commonly transmitted through the urine, feces, or household contact of infected mice.
What is Lassa Fever?
- Like Ebola, lassa fever is spread through the body fluids of infected people through blood, saliva, urine, and semen.
- The disease can also be transmitted to humans through contact with the urine and feces of infected mice.
- The infection can cause flu and flu-like symptoms. It can also cause bleeding in the body parts including the nose and mouth.
- Most people who have this infection will recover. But, for some, death can also occur.
- Lassa, the so-called relative virus of the Ebola virus, is widespread in many West African countries.
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