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Friday 29 May 2015

No Lassa Fever case was detected in Morocco, Health Ministry

Vocal synthesis
No Lassa Fever case was detected in Morocco, Health Ministry

The Health Ministry affirmed on Thursday that no case of the Lassa Fever was detected in Morocco, following the issuing by the World Health Organization of an information on the death of an American national who contracted the virus and entered the USA coming from Liberia via Morocco.

 After investigations and contacts with US health authorities and WHO office, it turned out that the American national returned to the United States after leaving Liberia via Casablanca on May 17, 2015, said the ministry in a statement.

 When he arrived to the USA, the American man was not showing any symptoms of the disease, but 24 hours later and due to a fever spike, he was quarantined to be screened for Ebola fever, it said, adding that tests were negative for Ebola but positive for the Lassa fever which led to the death of this individual on May 25.

 Though infection risks are very low, the ministry decided, as a precaution, to monitor the situation of the same flight passengers for 21 days which is the incubation period, underlining that no case of the Lassa fever was detected in Morocco.

MAP 28 May 2015