THE HEALTH HAZARD OF LASSA FEVER, THE CAUSE, SYMPTOMS AND PREVENTION.
ABSTRACT
Lassa fever is an acute viral illness characterized by multi-organ failure and hemorrhagic manifestations. Lassa fever is most frequently diagnosed in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, although sporadic cases have recorded in other West Africa countries, including mali. The etiological agent of lassa fever is lassa virus (LASV), an Arenavirus which is maintained in nature and frequently transmitted to humans by mastomys natalensis, known as Rat.  
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0    Introduction                             
CHAPTER TWO
2.0    Origin/History of Lassa Fever, Structure and Genome     of Lassa     
Virus, Receptor of Lassa Virus, Cause     of Lassa Fever, Signs and
Symptoms.                                     
2.1    Origin/History of Lassa Fever                         
2.2    Structure of  Lassa Virus and Genome                                    
2.3    Receptors of  Lassa Virus                       
2.4    Life Cycle of  Lassa Virus                                                                                                    
2.5    Pathogenesis                                
2.6    Cause of  Lassa Fever                           
2.7    Signs and Symptoms of  Lassa Fever                   
CHAPTER THREE
3.0    Diagnosis, Mode of Transmission, Prognosis, Geographical     
Distribution, and Epidemiology            
3.1    Diagnosis                              
3.2    Mode of Transmission                     
3.3    Prognosis of Lassa Fever                         
3.4    Geographical Distribution of Lassa Fever         
3.5    Epidemiological Study of Lassa Fever        
CHAPTER FOUR         
4.0    Management, Prevention and Control, and Treatment Of Lassa Fever   
4.1    Management of Lassa Fever                  
4.2    Prevention and Treatment of Lassa Fever       
4.3    Treatment of Lassa Fever                      
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1    Conclusion and Recommendation                    
5.1    Conclusion                                
5.2    Recommendation                             
    References                                     
 
CHAPTER ONE
1.0    INTRODUCTION
    Lass fever is an acute viral illness that is associated with a wide range of disease manifestations. While the majority of human cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, approximately 20% of infections demonstrate moderate to severe symptoms, which can include acute hemorrhagic fever characterized by multiorgan failure (McCormick and Fisher-Hoch, 2002). Lassa fever has an incidence ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 cases per annum with approximately 5000 deaths. (Ogbu et al., 2007).
    The etiological agent of lassa fever is lassa virus (LSV) a rodent borne pathogen belonging to the Arenavirus genus within the Arenaviridae (Frame et al., 1970). The natural reservoir of lassa virus is the multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis), which during infection with lassa virus sheds copious amounts of virus in urine (Monath et al., 1974). Humans primarily became infected with lassa virus following inhalation or ingestion of virus. Contaminated materials, though person to person transmission is also well documented, especially in nosocomial settings where mortality rates are often increased (Fisher-Hoch et al., 1995). Although mastomys natalensis are ubiquitous in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Lassa virus infected rodents appear to be restricted to West African countries, notably Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea (Wulff et al., 1975). To date, Outbreaks have been confirmed to the endemic region consisting of these four countries, though evidence of lassa virus infections and sporadic cases of lassa fever have been reported from other West Africa and central African countries (Fichet-Calvet and Rogers, 2009). Additionally, Lassa virus has been introduced into Europe and North America several times over the past four decades, making lassa fever one of the most prominent imported exotic viral hemorrhagic fevers with a high impact on national public health (Macher and Wilfe, 2006). In this regard, Lassa virus strain Arenavirus was isolated from a fatal case returning home from travel through Cote d Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Ghana (Gunther et al., 2000). More recently, another imported Lassa fever case was diagnosed post-mortem, in a young man with a 10 day history of fever who was medically evacuated from Mali to London (Atkin et a., 2009). Subsequent field studies conducted in the village of Soromba, where the man was living and working in Mali, demonstrated the presence of Lassa virus infected rodents (Safronetz et al., 2010). The purpose of this study was to expand these original findings and better define the geographical distribution of Lassa infected Mastomys natalensis in sub-Saharan Mali as well as provide an in depth genetic characterization of novel Lassa virus isolates from this region.