Case Study

                Dillon Mackie was a normal American sixteen year old boy until he went to West Africa for an outreach program for two weeks. What happened to him there changed his life forever.  He lives with his mom Cathy and his Scottish terrier Thunder. They live in a house in the suburban part of Pittsburgh. Ever since he came back from his trip he came down with some sort of illness. The only thing that he has to go on is that he most likely got it when he was in Africa.
                The first think he felt was a slight fever, so since that his mom was a nurse she just kept him home from school and made him stay in bed. Though when she saw her son almost fall down the stairs and acting like he was not sure where he was, she knew she had to get him to a hospital to get checked out because she knew what that was. It was malaise and she knew that malaise was the first sign that someone has a disease or infection. They went to the hospital where Dillon’s mother works West Valley Hospital so they wouldn’t have to wait forever in the waiting room so Dillon could be checked out. Dillon’s mom called in a special favor from a colleague, so Dillon could be checked out right away. One thing that Dillon told his mother on the way to the hospital “Mom I have different pains from different parts of my body, it is so hard to explain. Mom, I am really scared.”
                When they got to the hospital Dr. Bartlett took Dillon back to the examination room right away to do some testing. They did a physical examination along with a blood test and x rays. What they found out from these tests scared his mother to death because she knew exactly what they were up against. Dillon had Lassa a deadly disease that is very popular in Africa, which is also where Dillon just came back from after being there for two weeks for a special outreach program. Cathy felt so responsible because she let her son go there and get this disease. She did know that there was hope because she knew that the hospital had a supply of Ribavirin on hand, a prodrug that interferes with viral replication.
It is now a month later and thanks to some doctors who took great care of Dillon, he is now back to his old self. He also made a promise to himself that he is never ever going back to Africa again. He beat the Reaper once and he does not want to have to do it again.

Where It May Occur Next?

From the information that has been collected, the conclusion has been made that the next outbreak may happen somewhere in the poverty stricken parts of Africa, where the sanitation is  very poor.

Tips from the WHO

• Store grain in rodent safe containers 
• Store Grain
• Dispose of garbage far from home
• Keeping cats
• Maintaining clean households

"Lassa Fever." WHO. World Health Organization.  3 Oct 2011. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs179/en/.

Lassa Facts

• Lassa started in Lassa, Nigeria
• Came from the multimammate mouse
• Discovered in 1969
• Fatality Rate is ten percent
• Symptoms usually appear ten days after infection 
• Initial Symptoms are fever and malaise
• In West Africa 500,000 cases resulted in 5000 deaths
• Breathing in tiny particles is the most common way to get infected
• Strain of the Old World virus
• Incubation Period is five to twenty one days 

"Lassa." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia, 27 Sep 2011.  3 Oct 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassa_fever.

"Lassa- Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment." Health Care Tips. 2010.  4 Oct 2011. http://www.health-care-tips.org/diseases/lassa-fever.htm.

"Lassa Fever." CDC. National Center For Infectious Disease, 3 Dec 2011.  3 Oct 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/lassaf.htm.

"Lassa Fever." WHO. World Health Organization.  3 Oct 2011. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs179/en/.

"Lassa Fever Virus." Stanford. Humans and Viruses Class of 2005, 2005.  4 Oct 2011. http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/arena/2005/LassaFeverVirus.htm.