Challenges to the Control and Eradication of Lassa Fever Virus in Nigeria

Paschal Chiedozie Amakiri^1, , Ndidi Ethel Nkwoemeka², Izunna Somadina Okwelogu³, Ozioma Cynthia Njoku⁴ and Victor Nkwachukwu Chukwudi⁵

¹Chester Medical School, University of Chester, United Kingdom

²Department of Microbiology/Natural Sciences, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka

³Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Nigeria

⁴Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom

⁵Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Imo State University Teaching Hospital Orlu

Cite this paper:
Paschal Chiedozie Amakiri, Ndidi Ethel Nkwoemeka, Izunna Somadina Okwelogu, Ozioma Cynthia Njoku and Victor Nkwachukwu Chukwudi. Challenges to the Control and Eradication of Lassa Fever Virus in Nigeria. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2020; 8(4):118-121. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-8-4-3

Abstract

Lassa fever is a hemorrhagic viral infection prevalent in Nigeria despite interventions by the Nigeria Centre For Diseases Control and the Federal Ministry of Health. Having attained a high level of international recognition, is an emerging fast-spreading disease with the possibilities of causing epidemics. The confirmed and suspected cases of Lassa fever virus has spiraled over the last 3 years. The non-specific mode of clinical presentation also contributes to its prevalence. Rural dwellers are more susceptible to the viral diseases due to negligence, ignorance, low access to healthcare facilities, poverty and poor hygiene practices. There is need to ensure that adequate information about the diseases and ways of preventing it is made available not just to the endemic places or healthcare workers but a wide coverage of the population. Human- to- human transmission within the healthcare facility can be prevented through proper infection control trainings and provision of adequate personal protective equipment’s to the health workers. Community leaders, schools, religious institutions and health education officer’s needs to ensure that hygiene practices are encouraged within the rural communities. The government should ensure supply of rodenticides to reduce contamination of food by vectors (rodents of the Mastomys Spp). For Lassa fever virus control to be achieved, identified challenges and recommended solutions needs to be implemented by the government and agencies concerned.

Keywords:
outbreak prevalence non-specific virulence fatality endemic Lassa fever Nigeria

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Wogu, J. O. (2018). Mass media awareness campaign and the prevention of the spread of Lassa fever in the rural communities of Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Journal of Public Health in Africa, 9(3).
[2]	Dzotsi, E. K., Ohene, S. A., Asiedu-Bekoe, F., Amankwa, J., Sarkodie, B., Adjabeng, M., … Ampofo, W. (2012). The first cases of Lassa fever in Ghana. Ghana Medical Journal, 46(3), 166-170.
[3]	Bond, N., Schieffelin, J. S., Moses, L. M., Bennett, A. J., & Bausch, D. G. (2013, February). A historical look at the first reported cases of Lassa fever: IgG antibodies 40 years after acute infection. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
[4]	Mofolorunsho, K. C. (2016). Outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria: Measures for prevention and control. Pan African Medical Journal, 23.
[5]	Asogun, D. A., Günther, S., Akpede, G. O., Ihekweazu, C., & Zumla, A. (2019). Lassa Fever: Epidemiology, Clinical Features, Diagnosis, Management and Prevention. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America, 33(4), 933-951.
[6]	Fichet-Calvet, E., & Rogers, D. J. (2009). Risk maps of Lassa fever in West Africa. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 3(3), e388.
[7]	Ogbu, O., Ajuluchukwu, E., & Uneke, C. J. (2007). Lassa Fever in West African Sub-Region: An Overview - PubMed. Journal of Vector Borne Disease, 44(1), 1-11.
[8]	Inegbenebor, U., Okosun, J., & Inegbenebor, J. (2010). Prevention of Lassa fever in Nigeria. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 104(1), 51-54.
[9]	Buba, M. I., Dalhat, M. M., Nguku, P. M., Waziri, N., Mohammad, J. O., Bomoi, I. M., … Nasidi, A. (2018). Mortality Among Confirmed Lassa Fever Cases During the 2015-2016 Outbreak in Nigeria. American Journal of Public Health, 108(2), 262-264.
[10]	Tambo, E., Adetunde, O. T., & Olalubi, O. A. (2018). Re-emerging Lassa fever outbreaks in Nigeria: Re-enforcing “One Health” community surveillance and emergency response practice. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 7(1), 37.
[11]	Akhuemokhan, O. C., Ewah-Odiase, R. O., Akpede, N., Ehimuan, J., Adomeh, D. I., Odia, I., … Akpede, G. O. (2017). Prevalence of Lassa Virus Disease (LVD) in Nigerian children with fever or fever and convulsions in an endemic area. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(7), e0005711.
[12]	Ibekwe, T. (2012). Lassa fever: The challenges of curtailing a deadly disease. Pan African Medical Journal, 11, 55.
[13]	McCormick, J. B., King, I. J., Webb, P. A., Scribner, C. L., Craven, R. B., Johnson, K. M., . . . Belmont-Williams, R. (1986). Lassa fever. effective therapy with ribavirin. The New England Journal of Medicine, 314(1), 20.
[14]	Bausch, D. G., Demby, A. H., Coulibaly, M., Kanu, J., Goba, A., Bah, A., . . . Rollin, P. E. (2001). Lassa fever in Guinea: I. epidemiology of human disease and clinical observations. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases (Larchmon t, N.Y.), 1(4), 269-281.
[15]	Nigeria centre for disease control/ world health organization (NCDC/WHO) map resources for national action plan for health security (NAPHS) in 36 states and federal capital territory (FCT). (2019, Aug 2,). M2 Presswire.
[16]	World Health Organization. Division of Emerging and Other Communicable Diseases - Surveillance and Control, & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Infectious Diseases. Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Special Pathogens Branch (U. S.). (1998). Infection control for viral haemorrhagic fevers in the african health care setting Geneva : World Health Organization.
[17]	Shehu, N. Y., Gomerep, S. S., Isa, S. E., Iraoyah, K. O., Mafuka, J., Bitrus, N., . . . Paessler, S. (2018). Lassa fever 2016 outbreak in Plateau State, Nigeria—The changing epidemiology and clinical presentation. Frontiers in Public Health, 6, 232.
[18]	Oestereich, L., Lüdtke, A., Ruibal, P., Pallasch, E., Kerber, R., Rieger, T., . . . Muñoz-Fontela, C. (2016). Chimeric mice with competent hematopoietic immunity reproduce key features of severe lassa fever. PLoS Pathogens, 12(5), e1005656.
[19]	Monson, M. H., Frame, J. D., Jahrling, P. B., & Alexander, K. (1984). Endemic lassa fever in liberia. I. clinical and epidemiological aspects at Curran Lutheran hospital, Zorzor Liberia. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 78(4), 549-553.
[20]	Crowcroft, N. S. (2002). Management of lassa fever in european countries. Euro Surveillance : Bulletin Europeen Sur Les Maladies Transmissibles = European Communicable Disease Bulletin, 7(3), 50-52.
[21]	Bossi, P., Tegnell, A., Baka, A., Van Loock, F., Hendriks, J., Werner, A., . . . Gouvras, G. (2004). Bichat guidelines for the clinical management of haemorrhagic fever viruses and bioterrorism-related haemorrhagic fever viruses. Euro Surveillance: Bulletin Europeen Sur Les Maladies Transmissibles = European Communicable Disease Bulletin, 9(12), E11.
[22]	Fisher-Hoch, S. P., Tomori, O., Nasidi, A., Perez-Oronoz, G. I., Fakile, Y., Hutwagner, L., & McCormick, J. B. (1995). Review of cases of nosocomial lassa fever in nigeria: The high price of poor medical practice. Bmj, 311(7009), 857-859.
[23]	Chapman, L. E., Mertz, G. J., Peters, C. J., Jolson, H. M., Khan, A. S., Ksiazek, T. G., . . . Sadek, R. F. (1999). Intravenous ribavirin for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome: Safety and tolerance during 1 year of open-label experience. ribavirin study group. Antiviral Therapy, 4(4), 211.
[24]	Mehand, M. S., Al-Shorbaji, F., Millett, P., & Murgue, B. (2018). The WHO R&D blueprint: 2018 review of emerging infectious diseases requiring urgent research and development efforts. Antiviral Research, 159, 63-67.
[25]	World Health Organization. (2014). Clinical management of patients with viral haemorrhagic fever: A pocket guide for the front-line health worker: Interim emergency guidance - generic draft for west african adaptation 30 march 2014 World Health Organization.
[26]	Akpede, G. O., Asogun, D. A., Okogbenin, S. A., Dawodu, S. O., Momoh, M. O., Dongo, A. E., … Agbonlahor, D. E. (2019). Caseload and Case Fatality of Lassa fever in Nigeria, 2001–2018: A Specialist Center’s Experience and Its Implications. Frontiers in Public Health, 7(JUN), 170.
[27]	Usuwa, I. S., Akpa, C. O., Umeokonkwo, C. D., Umoke, M., Oguanuo, C. S., Olorukooba, A. A., … Balogun, M. S. (2020). Knowledge and risk perception towards Lassa fever infection among residents of affected communities in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Implications for risk communication. BMC Public Health, 20(1).
[28]	Collinson, S., Khan, K., & Heffernan, J. M. (2015). The effects of media reports on disease spread and important public health measurements. PLoS ONE, 10(11).
[29]	Funk, S., Gilad, E., Watkins, C., & Jansen, V. A. A. (2009). The spread of awareness and its impact on epidemic outbreaks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(16), 6872-6877.
[30]	Grau-Pujol, B., Massangaie, M., Cano, J., Maroto, C., Ndeve, A., Saute, F., & Muñoz, J. (2019). Frequency and distribution of neglected tropical diseases in Mozambique: A systematic review. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 8(1), 103.
[31]	Shears, P. (2007). Poverty and infection in the developing world: Healthcare-related infections and infection control in the tropics. Journal of Hospital Infection, 67(3), 217-224.
[32]	Burki, T. (2018). Lassa fever in Nigeria: the great unknown. Lancet (London, England), 391(10122), 728.
[33]	Amakiri, P. C., Chude, F. C., Oradiegwu, S. U., Primanik, I., Anoka, K. C., & Ezeoke, Q. A. (2020). Psychological effect of pandemic COVID-19 on families of health care professionals. British Journal of Psychology Research, 8(2), 1-7.
[34]	Aoyagi, Y., Beck, C. R., Dingwall, R., & Nguyen-Van-Tam, J. S. (2015). Healthcare workers’ willingness to work during an influenza pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 9(3), 120-130.
[35]	Draper, H., Wilson, S., Ives, J., Gratus, C., Greenfield, S., Parry, J., … Sorell, T. (2008). Healthcare workers’ attitudes towards working during pandemic influenza: A multi method study. BMC Public Health, 8, 192.