Health chiefs issue alert as deadly Ebola-like illness Lassa fever is discovered in the UK

Britain was today rocked by fresh Lassa fever fears after someone travelled to England while positive with the virus. 

Officials revealed the infected individual travelled from Nigeria while they were unwell with the Ebola-like disease at the end of February. 

But it was only after they returned to the West African nation that they were diagnosed with the virus. 

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses are now racing to contain any potential spread of Lassa fever, hunting down all contacts of the unidentified individual. 

There have been less than a dozen cases of the rodent-borne disease, ever detected in the UK — with the last recorded in 2022. 

The UKHSA today stressed the overall risk to the public is ‘very low’ and the virus ‘does not spread easily between people’. 

Lassa fever, which kills around one in 100 people, is endemic in Nigeria and several other countries on the west coast of Africa, including Liberia and Guinea. 

People usually become infected after exposure to food or household items that are contaminated with urine or faeces of infected rats. 

Officials revealed an infected individual travelled to England from Nigeria while they were unwell with the Ebola-like disease at the end of February

There have been less than a dozen cases of the rodent-borne disease, ever detected in the UK — with the last recorded in 2022. Pictured, health official wears protective gear to empty medical waste used for treating Lassa fever patients in Irrua, midwest Nigeria

But the virus, which can make women bleed from their vagina and trigger seizures, can also be transmitted via bodily fluids. 

Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director at the UKHSA, said: ‘Our Health Protection Teams are working at pace to get in touch with people who were in contact with this individual while they were in England, to ensure they seek appropriate medical care and testing should they develop any symptoms. 

‘The infection does not spread easily between people, and the overall risk to the UK population is very low. 

In 2022, a person in Bedfordshire died after catching the disease.

The unidentified individual was the third member of a family who recently returned to the UK from West Africa to become infected with the virus.

The three infections identified in the East of England were the first spotted since 2009.