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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Matthew A Knox, Collette Bromhead, David Ts Hayman
Assay validation is an essential component of disease surveillance testing, but can be problematic in settings where access to positive control material is limited and a safety risk for handlers. Here we describe a single non-infectious synthetic control that can help develop and validate the PCR based detection of the viral causes of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, Marburg virus disease and Rift Valley fever. We designed non-infectious synthetic DNA oligonucleotide sequences incorporating primer binding sites suitable for five assays, and a T7 promotor site which was used to transcribe the sequence...
April 22, 2024: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
#2
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Joachim Mariën, Mickaël Sage, Umaru Bangura, Alicia Lamé, Michel Koropogui, Toni Rieger, Barré Soropogui, Moussa Douno, N'Faly Magassouba, Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet
The Natal multimammate mouse ( Mastomys natalensis ) is the host of Lassa mammarenavirus, causing Lassa haemorrhagic fever in West Africa. As there is currently no operational vaccine and therapeutic drugs are limited, we explored rodent control as an alternative to prevent Lassa virus spillover in Upper Guinea, where the disease is highly endemic in rural areas. In a seven-year experiment, we distributed rodenticides for 10-30 days once a year and, in the last year, added intensive snap trapping for three months in all the houses of one village...
April 10, 2024: Emerging Microbes & Infections
#3
REVIEW
Lorena Sanchez-Felipe, Yeranddy A Alpizar, Ji Ma, Lotte Coelmont, Kai Dallmeier
Live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine (YF17D) was developed in the 1930s as the first ever empirically derived human vaccine. Ninety years later, it is still a benchmark for vaccines made today. YF17D triggers a particularly broad and polyfunctional response engaging multiple arms of innate, humoral and cellular immunity. This unique immunogenicity translates into an extraordinary vaccine efficacy and outstanding longevity of protection, possibly by single-dose immunization. More recently, progress in molecular virology and synthetic biology allowed engineering of YF17D as a powerful vector and promising platform for the development of novel recombinant live vaccines, including two licensed vaccines against Japanese encephalitis and dengue, even in paediatric use...
April 3, 2024: European Journal of Immunology
#4
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Emmanuel Dwalu, Ralph Weah Jetoh, Bode Ireti Shobayo, Irene Pewu, Fahn Taweh, Himiede Wede Wilson-Sesay, Godwin Etim Akpan, Fulton Shannon, Babalola Obafemi Joseph, Chukwuma David Umeokonkwo, Peter Adewuyi, Maame Amo-Addae, Thomas Knue Nagbe, Julius Gilayeneh, Jane Amanda MaCauley
INTRODUCTION: Lassa fever (LF) is endemic in Liberia and is immediately reportable. Suspected cases are confirmed at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory. However, there is limited information on the trend and factors associated with mortality. We described the epidemiological characteristics of LF cases and determined factors associated with mortality in Liberia from 2016 to 2021. METHODS: we reviewed 867 case-based LF surveillance data from 2016 to 2021 obtained from the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL)...
2024: Pan African Medical Journal
#5
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Tilly A Gurman, Kendela Diallo, Elizabeth Larson, Kathryn Sugg, Natalie Tibbels
Zoonoses, or diseases that pass between animals and humans, represent a major threat to global health and global economies. In Guinea, zoonotic diseases (e.g. rabies, Lassa fever) have been at the forefront due to recent outbreaks and government priorities. Much like many other diseases, zoonotic disease prevention demands a thorough and culturally nuanced understanding of the factors that influence preventive behaviors. To gain this knowledge and enhance risk communication for priority zoonotic diseases, this qualitative study conducted focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and observations in three Guinean prefectures...
2024: PLOS Glob Public Health
#6
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Xia Wang, Xianwei Ye, Ruihua Li, Xiaodong Zai, Mingda Hu, Shaoyan Wang, Hongguang Ren, Yuan Jin, Junjie Xu, Junjie Yue
BACKGROUND: Lassa fever is a hemorrhagic disease caused by Lassa virus (LASV), which has been classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top infectious diseases requiring prioritized research. Previous studies have provided insights into the classification and geographic characteristics of LASV lineages. However, the factor of the distribution and evolution characteristics and phylodynamics of the virus was still limited. METHODS: To enhance comprehensive understanding of LASV, we employed phylogenetic analysis, reassortment and recombination detection, and variation evaluation utilizing publicly available viral genome sequences...
March 14, 2024: BMC Infectious Diseases
#7
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Ayodeji Olayemi, Dominik Werner Schmid, Ramona Fleischer, Kerstin Wilhelm, Alexander Christoph Heni, Nadine Mueller-Klein, Lavinia Haikukutu, Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet, Stephan Günther, Simone Sommer
West African Mastomys rodents are the primary reservoir of the zoonotic Lassa virus (LASV). The virus causes haemorrhagic Lassa fever and considerable mortality in humans. To date, the role of Mastomys immunogenetics in resistance to, and persistence of, LASV infections is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of Major Histocompatibility Complex class I (MHC-I) on LASV infection status (i.e., active vs. cleared infection, determined via PCR and an immunofluorescence assay on IgG antibodies, respectively) in Mastomys natalensis and M...
February 2024: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
#8
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Forrest Bohler, Kathleen Cashman, Eric Wilkinson, Joshua C Johnson, Kyle Rosenke, Josh Shamblin, Lisa Hensley, Anna Honko, Carl Shaia
Lassa virus (LASV) causes an acute multisystemic hemorrhagic fever in humans known as Lassa fever, which is endemic in several African countries. This manuscript focuses on the progression of disease in cynomolgus macaques challenged with aerosolized LASV and serially sampled for the development and progression of gross and histopathologic lesions. Gross lesions were first noted in tissues on day 6 and persisted throughout day 12. Viremia and histologic lesions were first noted on day 6 commencing with the pulmonary system and hemolymphatic system and progressing at later time points to include all systems...
2024: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
#9
REVIEW
Rachel A Reyna, Kirsten E Littlefield, Nathan Shehu, Tomoko Makishima, Junki Maruyama, Slobodan Paessler
Lassa virus (LASV) is a zoonotic pathogen endemic throughout western Africa and is responsible for a human disease known as Lassa fever (LF). Historically, LASV has been emphasized as one of the greatest public health threats in West Africa, with up to 300,000 cases and 5000 associated deaths per year. This, and the fact that the disease has been reported in travelers, has driven a rapid production of various vaccine candidates. Several of these vaccines are currently in clinical development, despite limitations in understanding the immune response to infection...
February 7, 2024: Viruses
#10
Leslie Roberts
Long neglected, Lassa fever is surging in West Africa. Researchers want to know why.
February 23, 2024: Science
#11
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Lassané Kaboré, Clint Pecenka, William P Hausdorff
Lassa fever (LF) is a zoonotic viral hemorrhagic disease endemic to several West African countries. Approximately 300-500,000 cases occur annually across all ages with 10-20% case fatality rates. A LF vaccine is a recognized public health priority, with several candidates entering clinical trials. However, the perspectives of regional experts regarding critical vaccine properties, ideal delivery methods, and priority target populations remain unclear. Using a mixed methods approach with a standardized questionnaire, we individually interviewed 8 West African stakeholders, each with extensive knowledge and experience of LF...
February 17, 2024: Vaccine
#12
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Dylan Kotliar, Siddharth Raju, Shervin Tabrizi, Ikponmwosa Odia, Augustine Goba, Mambu Momoh, John Demby Sandi, Parvathy Nair, Eric Phelan, Ridhi Tariyal, Philomena E Eromon, Samar Mehta, Refugio Robles-Sikisaka, Katherine J Siddle, Matt Stremlau, Simbirie Jalloh, Stephen K Gire, Sarah Winnicki, Bridget Chak, Stephen F Schaffner, Matthias Pauthner, Elinor K Karlsson, Sarah R Chapin, Sharon G Kennedy, Luis M Branco, Lansana Kanneh, Joseph J Vitti, Nisha Broodie, Adrianne Gladden-Young, Omowunmi Omoniwa, Pan-Pan Jiang, Nathan Yozwiak, Shannon Heuklom, Lina M Moses, George O Akpede, Danny A Asogun, Kathleen Rubins, Susan Kales, Anise N Happi, Christopher O Iruolagbe, Mercy Dic-Ijiewere, Kelly Iraoyah, Omoregie O Osazuwa, Alexander K Okonkwo, Stefan Kunz, Joseph B McCormick, S Humarr Khan, Anna N Honko, Eric S Lander, Michael B A Oldstone, Lisa Hensley, Onikepe A Folarin, Sylvanus A Okogbenin, Stephan Günther, Hanna M Ollila, Ryan Tewhey, Peter O Okokhere, John S Schieffelin, Kristian G Andersen, Steven K Reilly, Donald S Grant, Robert F Garry, Kayla G Barnes, Christian T Happi, Pardis C Sabeti
Infection with Lassa virus (LASV) can cause Lassa fever, a haemorrhagic illness with an estimated fatality rate of 29.7%, but causes no or mild symptoms in many individuals. Here, to investigate whether human genetic variation underlies the heterogeneity of LASV infection, we carried out genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as well as seroprevalence surveys, human leukocyte antigen typing and high-throughput variant functional characterization assays. We analysed Lassa fever susceptibility and fatal outcomes in 533 cases of Lassa fever and 1,986 population controls recruited over a 7 year period in Nigeria and Sierra Leone...
February 7, 2024: Nature Microbiology
#13
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Hallie N Pennington, Daniel Birtles, Zoe W Shi, Jinwoo Lee
Infection with Lassa virus (LASV), an Old-World arenavirus that is endemic to West Africa, causes Lassa fever, a lethal hemorrhagic fever. Delivery of LASV's genetic material into the host cell is an integral component of its lifecycle. This is accomplished via membrane fusion, a process initiated by a hydrophobic sequence known as the fusion domain (FD). The LASV FD (G260 -N295 ) consists of two structurally distinct regions: an N-terminal fusion peptide (FP: G260 -T274 ) and an internal fusion loop (FL: C279 -N295 ) that is connected by a short linker region (P275 -Y278 )...
January 30, 2024: ACS Omega
#14
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Robert W Cross, Karla A Fenton, Courtney Woolsey, Abhishek N Prasad, Viktoriya Borisevich, Krystle N Agans, Daniel J Deer, Natalie S Dobias, Alyssa C Fears, Megan L Heinrich, Joan B Geisbert, Robert F Garry, Luis M Branco, Thomas W Geisbert
Lassa fever (LF) is an acute viral illness that causes thousands of deaths annually in West Africa. There are currently no Lassa virus (LASV) vaccines or antivirals approved for human use. Recently, we showed that combinations of broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies (BNhuMAbs) known as Arevirumab-2 or Arevirumab-3 protected up to 100% of cynomolgus macaques against challenge with diverse lineages of LASV when treatment was initiated at advanced stages of disease. This previous work assessed efficacy against parenteral exposure...
January 23, 2024: Cell reports medicine
#15
JOURNAL ARTICLE
T K Samson, O Aromolaran, T Akingbade
Lassa fever (LF) is caused by the Lassa fever virus (LFV). It is endemic in West Africa, of which % of the infections are ascribed to Nigeria. This disease affects mostly the productive age and hence a proper understanding of the dynamics of this disease will help in formulating policies that would help in curbing the spread of LF. The objective of this study is to compare the performance of quantile regression models with that of Machine Learning models in. Data between between 7th January 2018 2018 and 17th December, 2022 on suspected cases, confirmed cases and deaths resulting from LF were retrieved from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)...
December 27, 2023: Journal of Public Health in Africa
#16
Philip J M Brouwer, Hailee R Perrett, Tim Beaumont, Haye Nijhuis, Sabine Kruijer, Judith A Burger, Wen-Hsin Lee, Helena Müller-Kraüter, Rogier W Sanders, Thomas Strecker, Marit J van Gils, Andrew B Ward
Lassa fever continues to be a major public health burden in endemic countries in West Africa, yet effective therapies or vaccines are lacking. The isolation of potent and protective neutralizing antibodies against the Lassa virus glycoprotein complex (GPC) justifies the development of vaccines that can elicit strong neutralizing antibody responses. However, Lassa vaccines candidates have generally been unsuccessful in doing so and the associated antibody responses to these vaccines remain poorly characterized...
December 23, 2023: bioRxiv
#17
EDITORIAL
Tulio de Oliveira, Cheryl Baxter
Africa bears a disproportionate burden of infectious diseases, accounting for a substantial percentage of global cases. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cholera, Ebola, Lassa fever, and other tropical diseases, such as dengue and chikungunya, have had a profound impact on morbidity and mortality. Various factors contribute to the higher prevalence and incidence of infectious diseases in Africa, including socioeconomic challenges, limited access to health care, inadequate sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, climate-related factors, and endemicity of certain diseases in specific regions...
January 5, 2024: Science
#18
REVIEW
Stuart D Blacksell, Sandhya Dhawan, Marina Kusumoto, Kim Khanh Le, Kathrin Summermatter, Joseph O'Keefe, Joseph Kozlovac, Salama Suhail Almuhairi, Indrawati Sendow, Christina M Scheel, Anthony Ahumibe, Zibusiso M Masuku, Allan M Bennett, Kazunobu Kojima, David R Harper, Keith Hamilton
INTRODUCTION: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus and Lassa virus (LASV) are zoonotic agents regarded as high-consequence pathogens due to their high case fatality rates. CCHF virus is a vector-borne disease and is transmitted by tick bites. Lassa virus is spread via aerosolization of dried rat urine, ingesting infected rats, and direct contact with or consuming food and water contaminated with rat excreta. METHODS: The scientific literature for biosafety practices has been reviewed for both these two agents to assess the evidence base and biosafety-related knowledge gaps...
December 1, 2023: Applied Biosafety: Journal of the American Biological Safety Association
#19
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Anise Nkenjop Happi, Olusola Akinola Ogunsanya, Akeemat Opeyemi Ayinla, Ayotunde Elijah Sijuwola, Femi Mudasiru Saibu, Kazeem Akano, Cecilia Nwofoke, Obineche Tobias Elias, Olivia Achonduh-Atijegbe, Richard Olumide Daodu, Oluwatobi Abel Adedokun, Abraham Adeyemo, Kehinde Ebenezer Ogundana, Omolola Zaheedat Lawal, Edyth Parker, Iguosadolo Nosamiefan, Johnson Okolie, Zahra F Parker, Melanie D McCauley, Leigh Anne Eller, Kara Lombardi, Abdulwasiu Bolaji Tiamiyu, Michael Iroezindu, Edward Akinwale, Thierry Lamare Fouapon Assedi Njatou, Tsedal Mebrahtu, Erica Broach, Anastasia Zuppe, Petra Prins, Jenny Lay, Mihret Amare, Kayvon Modjarrad, Natalie D Collins, Sandhya Vasan, Cynthia Tucker, Sharon Daye, Christian Tientcha Happi
Abstract Identification of the diverse animal hosts responsible for spillover events from animals to humans is crucial for comprehending the transmission patterns of emerging infectious diseases, which pose significant public health risks. To better characterize potential animal hosts of Lassa virus (LASV), we assessed domestic and non-domestic animals from 2021-2022 in four locations in southern Nigeria with reported cases of Lassa fever (LF). Birds, lizards, and domestic mammals (dogs, pigs, cattle and goats) were screened using RT-qPCR, and whole genome sequencing was performed for lineage identification on selected LASV positive samples...
December 13, 2023: Emerging Microbes & Infections
#20
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Luis Martínez-Sobrido, Chengjin Ye, Juan Carlos de la Torre
Several mammarenaviruses cause hemorrhagic fever (HF) disease in humans and pose a significant public health problem in their endemic regions. The Old World (OW) mammarenavirus Lassa virus (LASV) is estimated to infect several hundred thousand people yearly in West Africa, resulting in high numbers of Lassa fever (LF) cases, a disease associated with high morbidity and mortality. No licensed vaccines are available to combat LASV infection, and anti-LASV drug therapy is limited to the off-label use of ribavirin whose efficacy remains controversial...
2024: Methods in Molecular Biology
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