Download Lassa virus

Lassa virus
Evildoers, how are you doing? I am the Lassa virus, and I cause the Lassa fever,
responsible for 5,000 deaths annually. My home is Africa, and I am quite prevalent in
West Africa. I am very similar to my friend Ebola but not as deadly, and it is hard to
distinguish me from him. I am an enveloped, single stranded bisegmented RNA virus,
and I spread to humans from rodents, mainly rats-the most common rodent in Africa. I
usually invade humans from rodent excretions via the gastrointestinal or respiratory tract,
most commonly through the respiratory tract. Health care workers are terrified by me as
well since person to person transmission is common. After I take a nap in the human for a
period of six to twenty one days, I cause an acute illness with various symptoms. The
main symptoms include fever, facial swelling, muscle fatigue, mucosal bleeding, nausea,
diarrhea, cough, and chest pain.
The spike proteins I produce help me go undetected as I replicate with great
speed, invading almost every tissue in the human body. Humans spread me to their own
kind by direct contact, air, blood, urine, semen, or breast milk. Unfortunately, there is
irony in my strength. Since I weaken my victims so quickly, they are too weak to board a
plane and travel, thus preventing a worldwide epidemic. When humans try to rid
themselves of me, they must be quarantined and all of their body fluids must be carefully
disposed. Humans must treat themselves as quickly as possible with ribavirin. Ribavirin
interferes with my metabolism and hinders my speedy replication. Administration of the
drug must be followed by blood transfusion and fluid replacement to properly dispose me
from the body system. For future prevention, humans try to keep their homes free from
rodents and practice good hygiene.
With the fever I cause, I usually kill 15-20 percent of my victims. However, I can
increase this rate to 50 percent during an epidemic. Though I am exclusive to Africa,
countries all over the world fear me because I can be used easily as a biological weapon.
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