The Lassa fever epidemic has begun to spread in Liberia since January 2019. Health authorities in that country reported 21 of the 25 people who contracted the disease.
Lassa fever is an acute viral disease of animal or zoonotic origin. It spreads mainly by rats and cockroaches.
90 cases have been reported since the beginning of the year throughout the country but only 25 have been confirmed. It is certainly not a very common disease but it arises during a period of the year that is not usually foreseen by health experts.
In addition, Liberia faces many health problems. Hospitals and clinics do not have the basic medicines needed to function properly. This is the result of the civil war that ravaged the country between 1989 and 2003 with more than 250,000 deaths.
