Lassa fever and the need for better latrines

Adequate latrines are lacking. Here is an example. A hole in the floor. While the latrine could be in worse shape, we see rat feces everywhere on the floor. Rats in this part of Sierra Leone can carry Lassa Fever, a disease of West Africa. At least 2 species of the rat Mastomys are infected in Sierra Leone. The virus can be spread in urine and feces of rodent, which becomes areosolized via movement or sweeping and the virus is inhaled by people. There has also been person to person transmission.

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Filename: Sierra Leone health care_2.jpg
Copyright: Radford Davis
Image Size: 4288x2848 / 11.2MB; Sierra Leone village health clinic medical care health care hospital Lassa Fever children malaria nutrition infection public health maternity
Contained in galleries: Village health care

Adequate latrines are lacking. Here is an example. A hole in the floor. While the latrine could be in worse shape, we see rat feces everywhere on the floor. Rats in this part of Sierra Leone can carry Lassa Fever, a disease of West Africa. At least 2 species of the rat Mastomys are infected in Sierra Leone. The virus can be spread in urine and feces of rodent, which becomes areosolized via movement or sweeping and the virus is inhaled by people. There has also been person to person transmission.