Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations

Olivier Uwishema; Baha A.A. Alshareif; Mohamed Y.E. Yousif; Mohammed E.A. Omer; Alfredo L.R. Sablay; Rabeet Tariq; Amirsaman Zahabioun; Rehema M. Mwazighe; Helen Onyeaka

doi:10.1002/jmv.27219

Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations

Olivier Uwishema^*, Baha A.A. Alshareif, Mohamed Y.E. Yousif, Mohammed E.A. Omer, Alfredo L.R. Sablay, Rabeet Tariq, Amirsaman Zahabioun, Rehema M. Mwazighe, Helen Onyeaka

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re-emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases—all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID-19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6433-6436
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of Medical Virology
Volume	93
Issue number	12
Early online date	21 Jul 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.27219
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We have not received any financial support for this manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC

Keywords

Africa
COVID-19
endemic
infectious disease
Lassa fever
Lassa virus
pandemic
public health

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Virology
Infectious Diseases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1002/jmv.27219

Cite this

@article{71807866b2974e95acfd2eaabf026d33,

title = "Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations",

abstract = "Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re-emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, C{\^o}te d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases—all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID-19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.",

keywords = "Africa, COVID-19, endemic, infectious disease, Lassa fever, Lassa virus, pandemic, public health",

author = "Olivier Uwishema and Alshareif, {Baha A.A.} and Yousif, {Mohamed Y.E.} and Omer, {Mohammed E.A.} and Sablay, {Alfredo L.R.} and Rabeet Tariq and Amirsaman Zahabioun and Mwazighe, {Rehema M.} and Helen Onyeaka",

note = "Funding Information: We have not received any financial support for this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1002/jmv.27219",

language = "English",

volume = "93",

pages = "6433--6436",

journal = "Journal of Medical Virology",

issn = "0146-6615",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "12",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

T2 - A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations

AU - Uwishema, Olivier

AU - Alshareif, Baha A.A.

AU - Yousif, Mohamed Y.E.

AU - Omer, Mohammed E.A.

AU - Sablay, Alfredo L.R.

AU - Tariq, Rabeet

AU - Zahabioun, Amirsaman

AU - Mwazighe, Rehema M.

AU - Onyeaka, Helen

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re-emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases—all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID-19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.

AB - Lassa fever, caused by the Lassa virus of the Arenaviruses family, is a re-emerging public health concern that has led to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths annually in Africa. Highly prevalent in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin, patients infected with the virus can manifest with cough, sore throat, headache, nausea, and vomiting among other symptoms. Coexisting with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its impacts, cases of Lassa fever in the African population have been reported to decrease due to hesitancy in visiting clinics that leads to unreported cases—all contributing to a silent outbreak in West Africa. Thus, to overcome current burdens, gaps, and challenges caused by Lassa fever amidst COVID-19 in Africa, various recommendations for efficient control of transmission, measures for disease containment, and strategies to correct misperceptions were made.

KW - Africa

KW - COVID-19

KW - endemic

KW - infectious disease

KW - Lassa fever

KW - Lassa virus

KW - pandemic

KW - public health

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111403532&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/jmv.27219

DO - 10.1002/jmv.27219

M3 - Article

C2 - 34289134

AN - SCOPUS:85111403532

SN - 0146-6615

VL - 93

SP - 6433

EP - 6436

JO - Journal of Medical Virology

JF - Journal of Medical Virology

IS - 12

ER -

Lassa fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: A rising concern, efforts, challenges, and future recommendations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this