Poor housing quality increases risk of rodent infestation and Lassa fever in refugee camps of Sierra Leone

Poor housing quality increases risk of rodent infestation and Lassa fever in refugee camps of Sierra Leone

Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in parts of West Africa, is a severe febrile illness transmitted to humans by the rodent Mastomys natalensis. To determine risk of Lassa fever in households in Sierra Leonean refugee camps, we analyzed the spatial relationships between households with a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 77; no. 1; p. 169
Main Authors: Bonner, Phillip Cullison, Schmidt, Wolf-Peter, Belmain, Steven R, Oshin, Babafemi, Baglole, Debbie, Borchert, Matthias
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01-07-2007
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Animals
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease Reservoirs
Female
Housing
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Lassa Fever - epidemiology
Lassa Fever - etiology
Lassa Fever - transmission
Male
Medical Records
Refugees
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Rodentia
Seasons
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sierra Leone - epidemiology
Sierra Leone
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Summary:Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in parts of West Africa, is a severe febrile illness transmitted to humans by the rodent Mastomys natalensis. To determine risk of Lassa fever in households in Sierra Leonean refugee camps, we analyzed the spatial relationships between households with a Lassa case and focal locations of potential rodent habitats. Quality and hygiene factors of households were assessed to determine possible risk factors for household rodent infestation and occurrence of Lassa fever. The odds to have a rat burrow were higher in case houses than in control houses (OR 24, 95% CI 6.0-93). Case houses scored significantly worse in the quality of housing and external hygiene. These findings suggest that risk of Lassa fever in refugee camps depends on individual housing quality and the hygiene of the immediate surrounding environment.
ISSN:0002-9637
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.2007.77.169