Dr Pete's Health Secrets

      There is currently an epidemic of Lassa fever, a viral disease in some parts of Nigeria, West Africa.   Nine states in the middle belt are affected and a few cases in Rivers state. Coming not long after the Ebola scare, it has gotten many worried and the health authorities on their toes. There is no need to panic because Lassa fever, unlike Ebola is preventable and curable if diagnosed early.  We must therefore be on our guard and not confuse it with Malaria, which is very endemic. We must also stay clear of rats! What is Lassa fever? Lassa fever is an acute viral illness that occurs in West Africa. The illness was discovered in 1969, during the civil war, when two American missionary nurses from Chicago, died in Nigeria.  The cause of the illness was found to be the Lassa virus, named after the town in Borno state, Nigeria where the first cases originated. The virus, a member of the virus family Arenaviridae, is a single-stranded RNA...