Two Lassa fever cases confirmed in UK with links to travel from West Africa

The illness can lead to severe bleeding and organ failure

A person diagnosed with Lassa fever is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in North London. AFP

Two people in England have been diagnosed with Lassa fever after travel from West Africa, while a potential third case is being monitored, the UK’s Health Security Agency said.

The illness, which kills thousands of people in Africa each year, is spread by contact with rat faeces or urine or the bodily fluids of an infected person.

It is the first time cases of the disease have been identified in the UK for more than a decade.

Authorities confirmed one patient was being treated in an infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London, while a second person has recovered. Another person suspected of having the fever is being treated at a hospital in Bedfordshire.

Lassa fever kills thousands of people in Africa each year and was first identified in Nigeria in 1969. EPA

Lassa symptoms include fever, weakness, headaches, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, a cough and abdominal pain. In severe cases it can cause facial swelling and bleeding from the mouth, nose or vagina.

Most of those infected do not show symptoms but severe bleeding and organ failure can occur in about a fifth of cases.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said the two confirmed cases and the suspected one were in the same family and are linked to recent travel to West Africa.

She said that cases of the virus are rare in the UK and it does not spread easily.

“The overall risk to the public is very low,” she said.

Efforts are under way to reach people who have recently come into contact with the confirmed cases.

Dr Sir Michael Jacobs, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free London, said the Lassa fever patient was being treated at a specialist centre where staff are trained to treat patients with viral haemorrhagic fevers.

“Our secure unit is run by a highly-trained and experienced team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure our staff can safely treat patients with these kind of infections,” he said.

Nigeria set up an emergency response centre in January to contain rising cases of Lassa fever after 26 people died over a three-week period.

Endemic to Nigeria, Lassa fever belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses, but is much less deadly.

Infection numbers in Nigeria typically climb at the start of the year, a phenomenon linked to the dry season.

The virus takes its name from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria, where it was first identified in 1969.