Lassa Fever: Critical Review and Prospects for Control.

Lassa Fever is a deadly viral haemorrhagic disease, causing annually several hundreds of deaths in West Africa. This zoonotic disease is primarily transmitted to humans by rodents of the genus , even though other rodents reportedly carry the Lassa virus, while secondary interhuman transmission accounts for approximately 20% of cases. Although this disease has been endemic in rural zones of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberfia, and Guinea for hundreds of years, it is also characterised by epidemic outbreaks in the dry season, responsible for heavy death tolls.