Résumé de : BOWEN (GS), TOMORI (O), WULFF (H), CASALS (J), NOONAN (A) & DOWNS (WG) - 1975 - Lassa fever in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria in 1974. Bull. World Health Organ., 52 (4-6): pp. 599-604.


Three cases of Lassa fever occurred in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria, in January and Fabruary 1974. The first case was a 19-year-old Nigerian; the other 2 cases were German. missionary physicians at St Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, one of whom cared for the patient who was the first case. Thus, 2 of the 3 cases were hospital acquired. Investigations failed to discover a village outbreak or the source of virus for the first case. A serosurvey of 258 hospital staff members and contacts of the 3 cases showed no other persons with antibody to Lassa virus. The absence of Lassa virus antibody in a high-risk group indicates a low or nonexistent level of past Lassa virus activity in southeastern Nigeria.