The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported the first case of Lassa fever in South Africa since 2007.
A man with an extensive history of travel in Nigeria became ill soon after returning to South Africa and and was admitted to a hospital in Pietermaritzburg where he died.
Lassa fever is a viral infection endemic to the West African countries and mostly reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria. Up to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever, with about 5,000 deaths, are recorded annually in the endemic countries. Currently, there is no vaccine for it.
The NICD said efforts were under way to trace and monitor anyone who had been in contact with the man, however, no secondary cases have been confirmed as yet.
Person-to-person transmission of the virus does not occur readily and the virus is not spread through casual contact. Transmission is mostly spread between humans through direct contact with the infected blood and bodily fluids of a person, for example in a hospital.
A species of rodent called the multimammate rat (or common African rat) is the natural host of the virus causing Lassa fever. The rats are persistently infected and shed the virus in their urine and faeces. Humans can come into contact with the virus through direct contact or inhalation of the virus in areas that are infested with the infected rats.
Cases of Lassa fever in travellers returning from endemic countries are reported from time to time. The 2007 case in SA was also a Nigerian citizen, who had also had extensive travel history in rural parts of that country before getting sick.
NICD statement – Imported case of Lassa fever identified (Open access)
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