Lassa Fever
Is a viral haemorrhagic fever that occurs in West Africa. Around 80% of cases don’t show signs of disease (WHO April 2005); the remaining 20% can have severe multi system disease that can affect several organs in the body.
Risk areas:
Guinea (Conakry), Liberia, Sierra Leone and parts of Nigeria
Transmission:
The virus is spread via excretions of the infected ‘multimammate rat’ either through direct exposure, (touching the excreta) or an infected person with Lassa fever.
Symptoms:
The onset of disease is usually gradual starting with a fever, moving onto muscle pain, nausea, diarrhoea, and abdominal pains. Severe cases may show facial swelling, low blood pressure and bleeding from the mouth, nose and other areas.
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Dr Travel Tips
- When camping, reduce the chance of insect bites by wearing light coloured clothing and avoiding perfumes.
- This is on ‘oldy but a goody’: always pack a spare pair of clothes in you hand luggage just in ‘case’ the airline loses your other baggage.
- Before you travel you should call your bank and let them know where you are travelling and the dates of your trip to avoid bank card issues.
- Some tips seem obvious but return the best value, this is one. Always retain a cheery disposition wherever you are travelling, you will receive far greater service – a smile is multilingual.
- To save space in your luggage and reduce the weight should you be charged extra, take samples of toiletries rather than packing your large ‘home size’ containers.
