Lassa Fever: Symptoms of Ebola-like Virus as first UK Death Confirmed

Context

One of the three persons diagnosed with Lassa fever in the UK has died.

About

About Lassa fever:

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease caused by the Lassa virus (a member of the arenavirus family of viruses) which naturally infects the widely distributed house rat.
The Lassa fever-causing virus is found in West Africa and was first discovered in 1969 in Lassa, Nigeria.
The fever is spread by rats and is primarily found in countries in West Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria where it is endemic.

Lassa Fever virus is a single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus that belongs to the genus Mammarenavirus, of the Arenaviridae family of viruses. The natural reservoir for Lassa fever virus is the Mastomys natalensis rat.

Diagnosis: Lassa fever initially presents in a similar way to malaria or ebola, making it more difficult to distinguish early on.
Transmission:It is transmitted through the urine and droppings of infected rats found in most tropical and subtropical countries in Africa.
Communicable:They are able to contaminate anything they come in contact with. The Lassa virus spreads through human to human contact with tissue, blood, body fluids, secretions or excretions.
Symptoms:A fever is usually the first symptom followed by headaches and coughing, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers and swollen lymph glands.
Treatment:Lassa fever can be fatal, but it can be treated if diagnosed early.
Complication associated: with the fever is deafness. Nearly one-third of those infected report various degrees of deafness. In many such cases, the hearing loss can be permanent.