Lassa fever outbreak in Liberia
Liberia’s Ministry of Health has revealed it is fighting to control an outbreak of Lassa fever which has killed two people since the beginning of March.
A spokesman told the BBC the two confirmed victims were a 57-year old woman and a 44-year-old man.
The two cases happend in the central city of Gbarnga and the capital Monrovia respectively, which are almost 200km (125 miles) apart.
According to the ministry, both had sought treatment at a number of health centres where they were treated for malaria and typhoid.
An official of the ministry, Yatta Wapoe, told the BBC the outbreak seems under control, as all of the 109 suspected cases had tested negative.
They will be officially declared free of the disease by the 25 March.
![A picture shows a warning and awareness banner for Lassa fever displayed at the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Irrua, Edo State, midwest Nigeria, on March 6, 2018. Nigeria is battling on two fronts against an unprecedented outbreak of Lassa fever, a cousin of Ebola, that has already killed 110 people in 2018.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/240/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2018/3/15/59f21433-14cd-4144-b892-02ca9b58a407.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/320/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2018/3/15/59f21433-14cd-4144-b892-02ca9b58a407.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/480/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2018/3/15/59f21433-14cd-4144-b892-02ca9b58a407.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/624/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2018/3/15/59f21433-14cd-4144-b892-02ca9b58a407.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2018/3/15/59f21433-14cd-4144-b892-02ca9b58a407.jpg 800w)
AFP
The disease’s symptoms include hiccup, abdominal pains, bloody stool and the oozing of blood after injections.
Source: BBC