Description of the situation
10 February 2003
Disease Outbreak Reported
The diagnosis of Lassa fever in a British soldier recently returned from duty in rural Sierra Leone has been confirmed by virological tests performed at the Enteric, Respiratory and Neurological Virus Laboratory at the Central Public Health Laboratory, London, United Kingdom.
He had been based in an area endemic for Lassa fever. He is currently being treated at the high security infectious diseases unit at Coppetts Wood Hospital, London.
This is the sixth case of Lassa fever to have been imported to the United Kingdom since 1976.