Emergence of Lassa Fever Disease in Northern Togo: Report of Two Cases in Oti District in 2016

Background Lassa fever belongs to the group of potentially fatal hemorrhagic fevers, never reported in Togo. The aim of this paper is to report the first two cases of Lassa fever infection in Togo. Case Presentation The two first Lassa fever cases occurred in two expatriate's health professionals working in Togo for more than two years. The symptoms appeared among two health professionals of a clinic located in Oti district in the north of the country. The absence of clinical improvement after antimalarial treatment and the worsening of clinical symptoms led to the medical evacuation. The delayed diagnosis of the first case led to a fatal outcome. The second case recovered under ribavirin treatment. Conclusion The emergence of this hemorrhagic fever confirms the existence of Lassa fever virus in Togo. After a period of intensive Ebola virus transmission from 2013 to 2015, this is an additional call for the establishment and enhancement of infection prevention and control measures in the health care setting in West Africa.

[1]  S. K. Fehling,et al.  Genome Sequence of Lassa Virus Isolated from the First Domestically Acquired Case in Germany , 2016, Genome Announcements.

[2]  S. Günther,et al.  New Hosts of The Lassa Virus , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[3]  U. Dalrymple,et al.  The effect of malaria control on Plasmodium falciparum in Africa between 2000 and 2015 , 2015, Nature.

[4]  Shirley C Nimo-Paintsil,et al.  Imported Lassa fever: a report of 2 cases in Ghana , 2015, BMC Infectious Diseases.

[5]  Pardis C Sabeti,et al.  Lassa Fever in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone , 2014, PLoS neglected tropical diseases.

[6]  Valérie D'Acremont,et al.  Beyond malaria--causes of fever in outpatient Tanzanian children. , 2014, The New England journal of medicine.

[7]  J. Crump,et al.  Comparing actual and perceived causes of fever among community members in a low malaria transmission setting in northern Tanzania , 2013, Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH.

[8]  C. de Jager,et al.  Morbidity and mortality due to malaria in Est Mono district, Togo, from 2005 to 2010: a times series analysis , 2012, Malaria Journal.

[9]  D. Rogers,et al.  Risk Maps of Lassa Fever in West Africa , 2009, PLoS neglected tropical diseases.

[10]  O. Ogbu,et al.  Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview. , 2007, Journal of vector borne diseases.

[11]  S. Günther,et al.  Mastomys natalensis and Lassa Fever, West Africa , 2006, Emerging infectious diseases.

[12]  Debbie Baglole,et al.  Lassa fever: epidemiology, clinical features, and social consequences , 2003, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[13]  T. Ksiazek,et al.  Lassa fever in Guinea: I. Epidemiology of human disease and clinical observations. , 2001, Vector borne and zoonotic diseases.

[14]  L. Hutwagner,et al.  Review of cases of nosocomial Lassa fever in Nigeria: the high price of poor medical practice , 1995, BMJ.

[15]  J. McCormick,et al.  A case-control study of the clinical diagnosis and course of Lassa fever. , 1987, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[16]  J. McCormick.  Epidemiology and control of Lassa fever. , 1987, Current topics in microbiology and immunology.

[17]  C. Dolea,et al.  World Health Organization , 1949, International Organization.