A patient in the UK who died last week from Lassa fever, an acute viral infection endemic in parts of Africa, was a newborn baby, according to reports.
The child, who died at the Luton and Dunstable hospital last week, was one of three confirmed cases of the disease all within the same family, the BBC reported.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday that an individual with the disease, which is similar to Ebola, had died in Bedfordshire and two other people had been infected.
All three cases were linked to recent travel in west Africa. NHS East of England declared a “regional major incident” last week after news emerged of the infections, the first cases of the disease in the UK since 2009.
Staff at Luton and Dunstable hospital and at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge have reportedly been identified as potential contacts. NHS England and the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) have not commented on the death but confirmed contact tracing was under way.
In an email to staff seen by the BBC, Cambridge University hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s, said: “Colleagues identified through our staff contact tracing exercise have been required to undertake a precautionary isolation period of 14 days, and not have patient contact for 21 days.
“As expected, this is impacting on our staffing levels and has required the temporary closure of a substantial portion of our critical care capacity – with impact on our clinical services.
“We want to assure you all that cases of Lassa fever are rare in the UK and it does not spread easily between people. The overall risk to healthcare staff and other patients is very low.”
The UKHSA has assured the public that the risk of further infections in the UK remains “very low”.
Prior to the three recent infections, eight cases had been identified in the UK since 1980. Luton and Dunstable hospital and Addenbrooke’s hospital were both contacted for comment.
