Emerging Diseases, Lassa Fever and Global Public Health

Lassa fever is a devastating viral infection responsible
for thousands of deaths across west Africa. Often
categorized as a viral hemorrhagic fever, mortality
during outbreaks can be over 60 percent. The
geographic restriction of the disease to developing
countries with poor infrastructure, minimal resources
for research and unstable political climates has
hamstrung efforts to uncover many of the secrets
of this deadly infection. This is the story of our
experience confronting Lassa in its own den—from
the bush of Sierra Leone to the cities of Nigeria—in
order to gain an upper hand in a decades-long battle
against an ephemeral pathogen.