 During the civil war , Conteh was the only clinician in Sierra Leone who had the skills and qualifications to manage patients with Lassa fever . In the absence of the CDC , the Lassa ward was supported by Merlin , a medical relief agency based in the UK . According to Nicholas Mellor , co @-@ founder of Merlin , " Conteh worked with Merlin to get a new laboratory built that would enable collaboration with international research centres with an interest in haemorrhagic diseases . He also worked on training and Lassa fever awareness campaigns . " Conteh 's Lassa fever program " provided the blueprint for many experts " . In 1996 , Daniel Bausch at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine began working with Conteh and the CDC on research related to Lassa fever . 
