Three individuals dressed in yellow protective suits carrying a covered body through a dense forest or jungle.

Sierra Leone

In the "Gondama Referral Center," a maternity and pediatric hospital in the small West African country of Sierra Leone, there are 220 hospital beds. On the same bed, a 13-year-old boy filmed on the first day died that same night. The 2-year-old boy filmed on the second day also died that evening. The girl filmed on the third day was transferred to another hospital, and the nurse estimated she wouldn’t make it back alive.

Like the Ebola virus, Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness. The virus's host is the multimammate rat, which is active in Africa. Rats carrying the Lassa virus spread it through their urine and feces. Humans can become infected through direct contact with these excretions, consumption of contaminated food, or contact between infected material and open wounds. Inhalation of airborne particles from rat urine or feces can also lead to infection. The virus can also spread from person to person through bodily fluids.

The incubation period of Lassa fever is 6 to 21 days. Early symptoms are similar to those of typhoid and malaria, including fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some infected individuals also show signs such as sore throat and white patches on the tonsils. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are between 100,000 and 300,000 new cases of Lassa fever worldwide each year, resulting in 5,000 deaths. In certain regions of Sierra Leone, about 10% to 16% of hospitalized patients are infected with Lassa fever, making it one of the region’s major endemic diseases.

Four people, including two women and two children, standing on a dry field with trees in the background during twilight.
Two healthcare workers in yellow protective suits and face shields care for a patient lying on a hospital bed in an emergency medical facility with empty beds and medical supplies.
A woman with a headscarf sitting on a hospital bed next to a shirtless child with an oxygen tube, in a medical setting with an IV stand and window.
Two healthcare workers in full protective gear attending to a young child patient in a makeshift medical facility.
A male healthcare worker in scrubs and glasses holds up an X-ray film in a cluttered medical storage room, looking at it.
Two medical professionals in white uniforms analyze a whiteboard filled with hospital data, patient statistics, and summaries in a medical setting.
A medical worker in full protective gear speaking with a young child in a hospital room.
Healthcare workers in protective gear attending to a patient on a bed inside a medical tent at night.
A woman is leaning over a bed, appearing distressed, with her head resting on her arms. A sick child lies on the bed, connected to medical tubes and surrounded by blankets and clothes.
A white body bag lying on the ground with a handwritten note on top of it. The note appears to contain personal information, including a name, age, and date of death.
A young man sitting on the forest ground with his hand on his face, and another person standing nearby in a dense, green forest.
A man leaning against a wall outside a building with mesh and white fabric panels, looking upward.
A woman carrying a child and a black object walks past small houses with painted walls, seen through metal bars on a gate, in a rural setting during dusk.