Lassa Fever Under Control In Sierra Leone

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Prof. Dr. Alpha Tajan Wurie, Minister of Health and Sanitation - 3D PNG.png

Dr. Alpha Tajan Wurie, Minister of Health and Sanitation

By Sylvester Samba

The Government of Sierra Leone, through its Ministry of Health and Sanitation, declared that the Lassa Fever epidemic in Tonkolili District in the Northern part of Sierra Leone no longer considered to be a health emergency. The pronouncement came Tuesday 7th January 2020 after it was confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Tonkolili district and its previously affected areas are now declared safe and free from Lassa Fever.

There was an upsurge in the number of cases in Masanga but with the intervention of the Ministry of Health, and its partners, the risk of infection brought under control

Forty-two days of strict medical surveillance has seen no new cases recorded among 71 contacts monitored in the country and 171 contacts monitored overseas.

The Minister of Health, through his Ministry, urged local communities to remain vigilant and to report any new cases to the health authorities.

Dr. Wurie expressed the country's deepest condolences to the bereaved family and the Dutch Government for the loss of one of their Doctors that came into Sierra Leone to support the country's Health Care Delivery System in the Masanga Hospital.

It all started when a 30-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to Masanga hospital on 3rd November 2019 with complaints of fever, pain, repeated vomiting, and bleeding. The patient from the Mayorroh community in Kafe Simira chiefdom, Tonkolili District, was referred to Makonthadae Maternal and Child Health Post (MCHP), where she was first treated. The patient operated on 4th November 2019 due to pregnancy-related complications and died shortly afterward as a result of excessive bleeding mainly from incision sites and other orifices.

Lassa Fever, named after the town in Nigeria where the illness first discovered in 1969 caused by a hemorrhagic virus that belongs to the same family as Marburg, and Ebola, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It is mainly spread by rodents and endemic to parts of West Africa: including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria.

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Theo Edwards

Theo Edwards has over twenty years of diverse Information Technology experience. He spent his days playing with all things IBMi, portal, mobile application, and enterprise business functional and architectural design.

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