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No risk after Lassa fever death

Officals say no need for public concern after Lassa fever death of Mail worker
18 February 2009 06:37pm

There is no risk to the public after a hospital patient died of Lassa fever, health officials said.

The Health Protection Agency said the death was an isolated case and involved a person who had been working in Mali and was flown on a specialist medical flight to University College Hospital in London on Tuesday. The patient died the same day.

The death comes after a 66-year-old east London man, who had been travelling in Nigeria, died of Lassa fever on January 29 at London's Royal Free Hospital following a sudden deterioration in his condition.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there was no risk to the general public as a result of the death at UCH.

Lassa fever is caused by the Lassa virus and is endemic in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and the Central African Republic.

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