Control measures following a case of imported Lassa fever from Togo, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, 2016
نویسندگان
چکیده
In a patient transferred from Togo to Cologne, Germany, Lassa fever was diagnosed 12 days post mortem. Sixty-two contacts in Cologne were categorised according to the level of exposure, and gradual infection control measures were applied. No clinical signs of Lassa virus infection or Lassa specific antibodies were observed in the 62 contacts. Thirty-three individuals had direct contact to blood, other body fluids or tissue of the patients. Notably, with standard precautions, no transmission occurred between the index patient and healthcare workers. However, one secondary infection occurred in an undertaker exposed to the corpse in Rhineland-Palatinate, who was treated on the isolation unit at the University Hospital of Frankfurt. After German authorities raised an alert regarding the imported Lassa fever case, an American healthcare worker who had cared for the index patient in Togo, and who presented with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, was placed in isolation and medevacked to the United States. The event and the transmission of Lassa virus infection outside of Africa underlines the need for early diagnosis and use of adequate personal protection equipment (PPE), when highly contagious infections cannot be excluded. It also demonstrates that larger outbreaks can be prevented by infection control measures, including standard PPE.
منابع مشابه
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 ...
متن کاملUTILE – A fast combined UTE-DIXON four class attenuation correction technique for PET/MR
J. Franke, H. Donker, F. Mottaghy, C. Kuhl, F. Kiessling, and V. Schulz Molecular Imaging Systems, Philips Research Europe, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Experimental Molecular Imaging, University of Aachen (RWTH), Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Nuclear Medicine, Un...
متن کاملManagement of a Lassa fever outbreak, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 2016
Due to rapid diagnosis and isolation of imported cases, community outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF) are considered unlikely in industrialised countries. In March 2016, the first documented locally acquired case of Lassa fever (LF) outside Africa occurred, demonstrating the disease's potential as a cross-border health threat. We describe the management surrounding this case of LF in R...
متن کاملAspects of clinical features, diagnosis, notification and tracing back referring to Trichinella outbreaks in north Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 1998.
52 cases of human trichinellosis were notified from 11 towns in North Rhine-Westphalia from November 1998 to March 1999. After non-typical symptoms in the enteral phase, fever, muscular ache, headache, oedema, disorder of vision and rash occurred in the parenteral phase. Trichinellosis was serologically confirmed by ELISA, IFAT or western blot. Raw sausage and minced meat produced from raw pork...
متن کاملImported Lassa fever in Germany: surveillance and management of contact persons.
This study sought to assess the risk of secondary transmission after import of Lassa fever into Europe. A total of 232 persons exposed to a case of Lassa fever imported into Germany were identified. The level of exposure was determined for 157 persons (68%), and 149 (64%) were tested serologically. High-risk or close contact was reported by 30 (19%) of 157 persons. No symptomatic secondary infe...
متن کامل