LASSA FEVER: UK deploys public health support team to Nigeria

The United Kingdom Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), a joint run effort of Public Health England and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has deployed a team of experts to help control the outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria.

The deployment, Ripples Nigeria understands, followed a request by the federal government as Lassa fever outbreak spreads across the country.

A statement obtained by Ripples Nigeria indicates that the UK-PHRST team deployment includes an expert in patient management, two epidemiologists and a logistician.

“The UK-PHRST will provide technical and analytical support for the public health response to control this outbreak, and will also assist with important research on Lassa fever that can provide insight for controlling the disease in the future.

“The team will be working alongside the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and other experts in outbreak control to support the Nigerian government’s response”, the statement said.

The statement also quotes Director of the UK PHRST, Professor Daniel Bausch, as saying that “the Lassa fever situation in Nigeria has been worsening and now requires an escalated level of response in order to help the Nigerian government slow transmission and save lives.

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“We are proud to be assisting the government of Nigeria by offering specialist support that will benefit the country both in the immediate and long term.”

It also quotes the Britain’s Public Health Minister, Steve Brine, as saying that “viruses like Lassa fever do not respect borders – and it is only right that we share our expertise with countries facing serious outbreaks around the world.

“Our invaluable Rapid Support Team will provide help on the ground in Nigeria to manage the spread of the virus, and grow the country’s ability to protect itself from other dangerous diseases.”

According to the statement, humans usually become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected rodents that are unique to Africa. The virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of an infected person, though this tends to be less common.

Typical symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, with bleeding and shock in severe cases. The public health risk to the UK is low.

The UK PHRST is funded by the UK government. It continually monitors infectious diseases and other hazards globally, identifying situations where the deployment of specialist expertise could prevent these threats from turning into a global outbreak. It also conducts outbreak-related research and focuses on building in-country capacity to prevent outbreaks with overseas partners.

 

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