Lassa fever

In the study, it was found that groups of guinea pigs infected with a virus similar to Lassa fever virus successfully recovered from the fatal disease after being treated with bavituximab alone or in combination with a common anti-viral medication.

Killer bug: Highly-contagious Lassa fever; Protected: A scientist wears special suit to test for Lassa fever virus; Emergency: The student walked into A&E at the Western General Infirmary after a trip to Nigeria; Isolation: The student is undergoing tests for a range of deadly diseases; No cure: Deadly Lassa fever kills 15 per cent of sufferers

A spokeswoman for the infectious disease centre said: "We can confirm that a patient who has recently returned from West Africa has Lassa fever virus. The patient was treated appropriately at a high security infectious diseases unit in North London and has now recovered.

The list of designated "select" agents (www.cdc.gov/ad/ohs/lrsat.htm) is long, including exotic human and animal pathogens that will rarely, if ever, pass through the general hospital lab: Ebola virus, Lassa fever virus, yellow fever, anthrax, goatpox, and camel pox.

The agency in its weekly epidemiological report for Week 5 said 193 cases have been confirmed positive to the Lassa fever virus giving a case fatality rate of 23.9 per cent.