Key facts

Transmission

Contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or stools
Blood, faeces/stool, vomit, urine/pee, saliva/spit, etc. from a person sick with Lassa fever enters the mouth, nose, eyes or a skin cut of another person
Contact with household objects (for example, bedding or clothes) that have been contaminated with body fluids from a person who is sick or has died from Lassa fever
Via contaminated medical equipment, such as reused needles
Unprotected sex with a man who has recovered from Lassa fever (for up to three months after he recovers)

Symptoms

Four out of five people with Lassa fever have no symptoms.
Starts with fever, general weakness and feeling unwell.
Headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough and stomach pain may follow.
If severe, can include facial swelling, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or anus, seizures, shaking, being confused and becoming unconscious.
Deafness occurs in one in four people who survive Lassa fever.

Prevention

Store food in rodent-proof containers
Dispose of rubbish away from the home (good environmental hygiene)
Control rodents (including by keeping cats)
Isolate (separate) people with Lassa fever
Use personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, clothing) when caring for sick people
Encourage handwashing with soap
Provide safe and dignified burials
Disinfect the homes and personal belongings of people who are sick or have died from Lassa fever
Promote social distancing
Dispose safely of waste that might be contaminated (by burning or burying it)
Disinfect reusable supplies
Provide psychosocial support

Vulnerable people

Pregnant women in the last three months of pregnancy

If an epidemic occurs

Identify suspected Lassa fever cases rapidly and refer them to care and treatment centres
Trace contacts and follow them up
Use personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, clothing) when caring for sick people
Isolate people who are sick with Lassa fever
Promote social distancing
Promote handwashing in communities and health centres with soap, chlorine solution or hand-sanitizer
Provide safe and dignified burials
Disinfect the homes and personal belongings of people who are sick or have died from Lassa fever
Dispose safely of waste that might be contaminated (by burning or burying it)
Disinfect reusable supplies
Male survivors of Lassa fever must practise safe sex for three months from the date on which they fell sick
Provide psychosocial support

Community-based assessment - questions

Make a map of the community and mark the information you gather on the map. Record other details.

When did people start to fall sick with Lassa fever?
How many people have fallen sick with Lassa fever? Where?
How many have died? Where?
How many people live in the affected community or area? How many children under five years of age live in the area?
How many pregnant women live in the affected communities?
Who and where are the vulnerable people?
Where are the local health facilities and services? (Include traditional and community carers.)
What are the community’s habits, practices and beliefs about caring for and feeding sick people?
What are the community’s burial traditions, funeral procedures and practices?
How do people in the community store their food? (Are rats or other rodents able to eat it?)
Are there handwashing facilities in the community or at the health centre? Are soap and water always available?
Is a social mobilization or health promotion programme in place?
Which sources of information do people use most?
Are rumours or is misinformation about Lassa fever spreading in the community?
Are health workers, volunteers or people who have survived Lassa fever stigmatized, left out, threatened or harassed? What are the main effects on them and their lives?
Do people in the community know about Lassa fever?
Do people in the community know the main signs of Lassa fever and what to do if someone becomes sick (phone number to call, actions to take)?
Do people in the community know how to protect themselves from Lassa fever?
Are people in the community taking social distancing seriously? Why? Why not?

Volunteer actions

01. Community-based surveillance 02. Community mapping 03. Communicating with the community 04. Community referral to health facilities 05. Volunteer protection and safety 06. Personal protection equipment (PPE) for highly infectious diseases 09. Preparing oral rehydration solution (ORS) 19. Psychosocial support 20. Isolating sick people Lassa fever 28. Physical distancing 29. Hygiene promotion 31. Good food hygiene 34. Handwashing with soap 35. Handwashing in a highly infectious epidemic 36. Vector and reservoir control 38. Waste disposal and clean-up campaigns Lassa fever 41. Handling and slaughtering animals 42. Promoting safe sex 43. Social mobilization and behaviour change