5 Facts you should know about

Lassa fever (viral hemorrhagic fever in GARD)

In severe disease (~20% of infected individuals), Lassa fever causes serious symptoms, including hemorrhaging, respiratory distress, vomiting, facial swelling, shock, and pain in the chest, back, and abdomen

Signs and symptoms of Lassa fever typically occur 1-3 weeks after the patient comes into contact with the virus

Lassa fever is an animal-borne, or zoonotic, acute viral illness

The reservoir (host) of the Lassa virus is a rodent known as the “multimammate rat”

It is endemic in parts of West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria

See our full disease profile

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