WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 10: 28 February – 6 March 2022
Data as reported by: 17:00; 6 March 2022
...
Lassa fever Togo
2 cases
1 Deaths
50.0% CFR
EVENT DESCRIPTION
On 26 February 2022, the Togolese authorities confirmed an outbreak
of Lassa fever in Oti-South health district situated in the Northern
part of the country.
The index case is a 35 year-old female resident of Takpamba, a town
bordering Ghana and located 96 kms away from Dapaong - the
capital city of the Savanna region¬ - which is 35 km to Burkina Faso.
She lived in the Djabata village in Benin and arrived in Takpamba on 4
February 2022 after crossing the Benin-Togo border. On 11 February
2022, she developed fever, abdominal pains and cough, after which
she consulted Takpamba health centre on 14 February 2022.
As no significant improvement was observed after three days of
oral treatment, she was taken to a Guerin Kouka health centre where
she was hospitalized for 24 hours and was later taken to Esperance
Hospital where she was managed as an out-patient. She returned
to this latter facility on 22 February 2022, following persistence of
the previous symptoms to which were added vomiting and bloody
diarrhea. As a result of her clinical picture, she was suspected as
a Lassa fever case and immediately isolated, notified and a sample
was drawn for laboratory confirmation.
On 26 February 2022, the case was confirmed positive for Lassa
fever, the same morning she had died. A safe and dignified burial was
organized 24 hours later, and an initial investigation was conducted
both in the health care facility and the hosting community.
As of 28 February 2022, 26 contacts had been listed around the
case, in two health districts of the Savanna region (13 in Oti and
13 in Oti-South), including 10 health care workers, one of whom
was symptomatic and isolated. This is a 38-year-old male health
care worker residing in Mango village and working in the Esperance
Hospital where he had a direct contact with the patient. Of all identified
contacts, 14 accepted to be sampled including the suspected case
and all their laboratory results were negative for Lassa fever.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS
On 27 February 2022, the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and
Universal Health Coverage declared the outbreak and indicated
preventive measures to be adopted by the Togolese population.
The incident management system located at the National
Emergency Operations Centre was activated. A response plan is
currently under development.
A deep investigation was conducted around the confirmed case,
which identified 26 contacts, one of whom became a suspected
case and was immediately isolated. More contacts are closely
being followed-up on a daily-basis.
Surveillance is being reinforced in all health care facilities of
the country, as well as infection prevention and control (IPC)
measures.
The health care facility that received the patient was
decontaminated and IPC measures reinforced. An isolation
unit was identified and arranged to receive and take care of
suspected and confirmed cases.
The communities are being sensitized and educated on the
benefits and acceptance of safe and dignified burials, early signs
and symptoms of the disease and preventive measures. As
such, a radio program was broadcast on two community radios
in the affected health district.
SITUATION INTERPRETATION
Lassa fever is endemic in several West African countries, including
Togo, which is often affected to a lesser extent. However since 2016,
outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in the country
every few years. The last notable outbreak in Togo was reported in
2017 in Oti district, the same district with an ongoing outbreak. The
Ministry of Health has proven to have adequate response capacity
to Lassa fever outbreaks in the past, however there is a current lack
of resources for case management such as insufficient number of
isolation rooms, shortage of antiviral treatment and supportive
therapy as well as delays in testing turnaround times.
PROPOSED ACTIONS
The early warning and alert system should be reinforced incountry, as
well as the event- and community-based surveillance.
This would help in detecting early any event of public health
concern. All relevant actors should be trained, accordingly.
Contact tracing and follow-up should be maintained and
reinforced. Deep investigations should be pursued to identify all
potentially missed contacts and chains of transmission.
Considering the proximity with Ghana and Burkina Faso,
surveillance at corresponding points of entry should be
reinforced.
Risk communication and community engagement activities
regarding Lassa fever should continue. Accordingly, all political,
administrative, and traditional authorities alongside community
leaders should strongly engage in educating their communities.
View/Open
OEW10-280206032022.pdf (2.035Mb)
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/352364
