Lassa fever

[ lah-suh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Pathology.

a highly contagious viral disease, largely confined to central West Africa, characterized by fever, difficulty in swallowing, and inflammation of the pharynx, often progressing to infect the lungs, heart, and kidneys, leading to death.

Lassa fever

a serious viral disease of Central West Africa, characterized by high fever and muscular pains

First recorded in 1965–70; after Lassa, Nigeria, village where it was first identified

named after Lassa, the village in Nigeria where it was first identified

In the creation of the Lassa fever test strips, they had also made a similar, but separate, Ebola test.

So was Thomas Monath, the doctor who had just unraveled the natural history of Lassa fever.

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