Asian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness endemic to West Africa, continues to pose a serious public health challenge, largely due to low public awareness and poor rodent control. This paper proposes a deterministic model for the transmission dynamics of Lassa fever, incorporating two key intervention strategies: public awareness and aggressive vector control. In the model, awareness reduces the rate of human to human contact, while vector control lowers the rodent population and thereby the chance of infection passing from rodents to people. The human and rodent populations are divided into susceptible, exposed, infectious, and for humans, recovered compartments, with transmission occurring through direct contact, airborne particles, and sexual interaction. Mathematical analysis confirms the model’s validity through positivity, boundedness, and uniqueness of solutions. Equilibrium analysis identifies both disease free and endemic steady states, and the effective reproduction number ( R_e ) is obtained using the next generation matrix. Local and global stability analyses are then carried out to examine the behavior of the equilibria. Sensitivity analysis highlights parameters with the greatest influence on R_e , with public awareness and vector control exerting the strongest negative effects. Numerical simulations confirm that strengthened awareness campaigns and intensive rodent control can bring the reproduction number below unity. These findings show the practical value of combining behavioral and ecological strategies, providing useful insights for health policy and community actions in areas where Lassa fever is widespread.