title: Lassa fever in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria in 1974.
abstract: Three cases of Lassa fever occurred in Onitsha, East Central State, Nigeria, in January and February 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.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007836:Lassa virus; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D012328:RNA Viruses; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology