DOUNIAMAG-NIGERIA-HEALTH-EPIDEMIC-LASSA

Director of institute Ephraim Igbani-Emovon (2nd L) looks on while World Health Official (WHO) official Kevin Ousman speaks about prevention and control of Lassa fever at the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Irrua, Edo State, midwest Nigeria, on March 6, 2018. Nigeria is battling on two fronts against an unprecedented outbreak of Lassa fever, a cousin of Ebola, that has already killed 110 people in 2018. Even as doctors are grappling to contain the threat, health watchdogs are struggling to understand why the deadly virus has spread so dramatically. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed 353 Lassa cases since January 1, 2018, compared with 143 cases for the whole of 2017. / AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)