Beware! Rat delicacies, dirty environment breed Lassa fever

At the peak of the Ebola Virus Disease that killed hundreds of people in West Africa, including Nigeria, the conversation among stakeholders about the major carriers of the killer virus then centred on eating fruit bats and bush meat.

The outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria is toeing the same line. Already, doctors, virologists, among others, are also pointing to the animal kingdom as the harbinger of the current disease that has resulted in the death of 41 persons and the hospitalisation of 93 other Nigerians. In fact, some medics and state governments on Tuesday warned that the consumption and preparation of rat delicacies might be behind the transmission of the Lassa virus.

For a virologist, Dr. Olumide Adunbarin, there is indeed a link between rats and Lassa fever.

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