The department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal said on Wednesday that no new cases of Lassa fever have been reported to them. This follows a case that was diagnosed in a man from KwaZulu-Natal who died last week.
The department’s spokesperson, Ntokozo Maphisa, said all contacts are being monitored and none have developed symptoms.
She said:
According to the National Institute for Communicable Disease, the man had an extensive travel history in Nigeria before returning to South Africa.
They said he fell ill after entering South Africa and was hospitalised in a hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
Senior communications manager of the National Institute for Communicable Disease, Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, said the diagnosis of Lassa fever was confirmed through laboratory testing conducted at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, a division of the National Health Laboratory Service.