Exposure Incidents and Outcome of Lassa Fever Virus (LASV) Infection among Healthcare Workers in Nigeria, 2019

Abstract

Background: Lassa fever (LF) is a zoonotic disease en-demic in Nigeria. Primary infection through exposure to ex-creta, urine or saliva of infected rodents is the most common mode of infection. There is documented evidence of human to human (HTH) transmission, especially among healthcare workers (HCWs) who are more at risk of nosocomial transmission in a hospital environment. In the 2018 Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria, eight percent of all cases occurred among HCWs. This paper describes the patterns of exposure , characteristics and outcome of HCWs to Lassa virus (LASV) infection during the 2019 outbreak.