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Polio, Measles, Lassa Fever Make Triple-Threat Comeback

Diseases that were widely believed to have been conquered return with a vengeance, as a pandemic-weary world tries to move on ...

– Malawi detects polio, first wild case in Africa in over 5 years

– Officials Warn of Potential Measles Exposure in Fairfax County, VA

– A newborn died of Lassa fever in the UK, two other family members ill

Malawi detects polio, first wild case in Africa in over 5 years

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Malawi has declared a polio outbreak after a case was detected in a young child in the capital Lilongwe, the first case of wild poliovirus in Africa in more than five years, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Laboratory analysis showed the strain detected in Malawi was linked to one that has been circulating in Pakistan, where it is still endemic, the WHO said in a statement .

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“As an imported case from Pakistan, this detection does not affect the African region’s wild poliovirus-free certification status,” the WHO said.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative said the case in Malawi was in a three-year-old girl who experienced the onset of paralysis in November last year.

Sequencing of the virus conducted in February by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it as type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) … read more. 

Officials Warn of Potential Measles Exposure in Fairfax County, VA

NBC WASHINGTON – Health officials in Fairfax County warned of potential exposure to measles at two locations, including a hospital, earlier this month.

The Fairfax Health District is working to identify people who may have been exposed at locations associated with one confirmed measles case, they said in a statement Monday.

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If you visited Grand Centreville Plaza on Feb. 1 between 11:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. or on Feb. 3 between 2:15 and 5 p.m., you may have been exposed, according to the statement.

Health officials also identified Inova Fairfax Medical Campus as a potential exposure site. Those who visited the hospital’s pediatric or adult emergency departments on Feb. 3 between 5:30 and 9 p.m. should keep a close eye on whether any symptoms develop, officials said.

Health officials stated that based on the potential dates of exposure, symptoms may develop as late as Feb. 24 … read more. 

A newborn died of Lassa fever in the UK, two other family members ill

LIVE SCIENCE – A newborn baby in the U.K. died last week of Lassa fever — an acute viral illness that is endemic in parts of West Africa. Because the disease doesn’t spread easily, however, the chances of a wider outbreak are low, health authorities said.

The infant was one of three confirmed cases of the virus in the U.K.; all of the infected were members of the same family, and they had recently traveled to West Africa, the BBC reported on Feb. 15.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported the death in a statement on Feb. 11, but did not mention the patient’s age.

One of the sick individuals has already recovered; the other is being treated at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, according to the UKHSA.

Lassa fever last appeared in the U.K. more than a decade ago, with two cases emerging in 2009. With the recent infections, there have now been 11 cases of Lassa fever in the UK since 1980, UKHSA reported … read more. 

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