NICD
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says a man from KwaZulu Natal has died after testing positive for Lassa Fever.
This is the first confirmed case in the country since 2007.
The NICD says the patient, who travelled extensively in Nigeria before returning home, fell ill and was hospitalised in Pietermartizburg.
The disease was confirmed by a laboratory test on Thursday.
The NICD says efforts are underway to trace and monitor all his possible contacts.
Lassa fever is a viral infection that is endemic to the West African countries and mostly reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria.
Up to 300 000 cases of Lassa fever, with about 5 000 deaths, are recorded annually in the endemic countries.
Currently, there is no vaccine.
The natural host of this virus in endemic countries is a rodent species called the multimammate rat.
The rats are persistently infected and shed the virus in their urine and faeces.
Humans can come into contact with the virus through direct contact or inhalation of the virus in areas that are infested with the infected rats.
For example contact with contaminated materials, ingestion of contaminated food or inhalation of air that has been contaminated with urine droplets.
Person-to-person transmission of the virus does not occur readily and the virus is not spread through casual contact and is mostly associated with the hospital setting where healthcare workers have contact with the infected blood and bodily fluids of a patient.
In February 2022, an imported case of Lassa fever with secondary cases was identified in the United Kingdom.
