Description of the situation
26 July 2000
Disease Outbreak Reported
The 48 year-old surgeon who was infected with Lassa fever virus while working in Kenema, Sierra Leone died on 25 July in Leiden University Hospital, The Netherlands where he was being treated. He was initially treated for malaria in Sierra Leone on 11 July, and then traveled to The Netherlands (arrived 14 July) to visit relatives. He was admitted to the hospital on 15 July. Lassa fever was suspected when his condition worsened on 20 July and treatment with ribavirin was started. On 22 July, the Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany reported that Lassa virus was detected in a blood sample sent for diagnostic testing.
While the risk of infection for those who traveled with this person from Freetown to Amsterdam is minimal, potential contacts are being traced and monitored in both The Netherlands as well as in Africa.
As mentioned in the 25 July posting, this is the fourth case of Lassa fever imported into Europe this year: see previous reports, 4 April, 14 March, 13 March, 18 January and 13 January. All four patients have died although the death of one case was not the direct result of the acute infection.