Lassa fever in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria in 1974.

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  • 1 January 1975
    • journal article
    • case report
    • Vol. 52, 599-604
Abstract
Three cases of Lassa fever occurred in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria, in January and February 1974. The first case was a 19-year-old Nigerian; the other 2 cases were German missionary physicians at St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, one of whom cared for the patient who was the first case. Thus, 2 of the 3 cases were hospital acquired. Investigations failed to discover a village outbreak or the source of virus for the first case. A serosurvey of 258 hospital staff members and contacts of the 3 cases showed no other persons with antibody to Lassa virus. The absence of Lassa virus antibody in a high-risk group indicates a low or nonexistent level of past Lassa virus activity in southeastern Nigeria.

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