Lassa virus. Medical search. FAQ

Included within the term are diseases such as Ebola, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, dengue fever and the Marburg virus. (plymouth.ac.uk)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will not renew funding for a major research project into Lassa fever, a decision that will, in turn, cut resources for a facility in Sierra Leone that is at the forefront of the current battle against the Ebola virus. (reuters.com)

As part of the Tulane research project, which was designed to identify diagnostics and treatment for Lassa, researchers support the Kenema facility, which has a 5,500 square foot laboratory and similarly sized hospital ward. (reuters.com)

The Lassa ward at Kenema has been funded by the United States for more than a decade through a variety of grants and contracts, Garry said. (reuters.com)

Both are hemorrhagic fevers caused by distinct families of viruses. (reuters.com)

The facility, at Kenema Government Hospital, was set up a decade ago to test and treat Lassa fever. (reuters.com)

Approximately 20 cases of imported Lassa fever have been recorded worldwide(11,12). (msdsonline.com)
Control measures following a case of imported Lassa fever from Togo, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, 2016. (eurosurveillance.org)

Name at least two countries where Lassa fever is endemic. (cdc.gov)
Ebola viruses are the causative agents of a severe form of viral haemorrhagic fever in man, designated Ebola haemorrhagic fever , and are endemic in regions of central Africa [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] Ebola virus disease (EVD) or Ebola hemorrhagic disease is caused by Ebola virus first found in the Ebola river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (symptoma.com)
Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family, is endemic to Africa and is spread via rodents and their feces. (id-hub.com)
Lassa virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease called Lassa fever and is endemic to western Africa . (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)
Consequently, cases of Lassa fever mainly occur in regions in which the virus is endemic, consisting of those 3 countries and Liberia, with an annual incidence ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 cases and ≈5,000 deaths ( 6 ). (cdc.gov)
Inset shows location of Mali in relation to countries where Lassa virus is endemic (shaded). (cdc.gov)
Lassa fever is known to be endemic in several West African countries. (xinhuanet.com)
Lassa fever is endemic in Liberia and causes outbreaks almost every year in different parts of the country. (who.int)
Although occasional travel-associated cases of Lassa fever have been reported in the past (see DON published on 27 and 8 April 2016), the risk of disease spread from Liberia to non-endemic countries is considered to be low. (who.int)
The diagnosis of Lassa fever should be considered in febrile patients returning from areas where Lassa fever is endemic. (who.int)
And Lassa fever, endemic to the same parts of Africa recently hit by Ebola, is experiencing a period of unprecedented outbreak . (endpts.com)
Lassa virus is endemic in Western Africa, and is the most common cause of viral hemorrhagic fever, infecting an estimated 300,000-500,000 people annually. (stanford.edu)

Death as a result of infection with Lassa virus is usually due to cardiac arrest(1). (msdsonline.com)
Further testing and human clinical trials are needed to determine if favipiravir, also known as T-705 and Avigan, could effectively treat Lassa virus infection in people. (eurekalert.org)
The broad-spectrum antiviral favipiravir protects guinea pigs from lethal Lassa virus infection post-disease onset. (eurekalert.org)
This virus was named after the town of Lassa at the southern end of Lake Chad in northeastern Nigeria, where the first known patient, a nurse in a mission hospital, had lived and worked when she contracted this infection in 1969. (cdc.gov)
Acute infection of humans with Ebola and Lassa viruses, two principal etiologic agents of hemorrhagic fevers, often results in a paradoxical pattern of immune responses: early infection, characterized by an outpouring of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, vs late stage infections, which are associated with poor immune responses. (jimmunol.org)
These results suggest that the purified compound almost completely blocked the killer virus by speeding the response of the body's fast-acting immune cells, called white blood cells or leukocytes, at the early stage of infection. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
Myeloid cells are tunable by a polyanionic polysaccharide derivative and co-determine host rescue from lethal virus infection. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
As we speak 35 people have died of Lassa fever virus infection in Nigeria . (naijagists.com)
The first case of Lassa Fever virus infection has been reported in Ekiti state. (naijagists.com)
Describe the implications of Lassa fever infection on pregnant women. (cdc.gov)
It focuses on methods for diagnosing Lassa fever and infection control measures to consider while caring for a patient with Lassa fever. (cdc.gov)
Describe at least two methods for identifying a patient with Lassa fever infection in the clinical setting. (cdc.gov)
Describe at least two infection control recommendations when caring for a Lassa fever patient. (cdc.gov)
Lassa fever is difficult to distinguish from other viral haemorrhagic fevers, especially early in the course of infection such as Ebola virus disease, malaria, shigellosis, typhoid fever, yellow fever, and other diseases that may cause fever. (ntells.com)
Alkhumra virus infection, a new viral hemorrhagic fever in Saudi Arabia. (symptoma.com)
A case of Ebola virus infection. (symptoma.com)
[symptoma.com] Indirect immunofluorescence for the diagnosis of Lassa fever infection. (symptoma.com)
Most commonly, contact with infectious rodents or in- insouthernMaliwherethepresenceofinfectedrodentshas gestion/inhalation of virus-laden particles is the source of beendocumented.LASVIgGseroprevalencerangedfrom human infection. (cdc.gov)
In addition, the virus can spread through unhygienic healthcare settings via improperly sterilized medical instruments, infected blood products, and lack of infection control gear such as masks, gloves, and gowns. (iamat.org)
To prevent cross infection of Lassa fever in hospitals, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, stresses that health workers must be vigilant when attending to patients with symptoms of the virus. (punchng.com)
To determine whether Lassa virus was circulating in southern Mali, we tested samples from small mammals from 3 villages, including Soromba, where in 2009 a British citizen probably contracted a lethal Lassa virus infection. (cdc.gov)
Lassa fever is an acute viral infection associated with a wide spectrum of disease manifestations, which range from mild to hemorrhagic fever characterized by multiorgan failure ( 1 ). (cdc.gov)
A study of two viruses that bind to the same cell surface receptor protein reveals how a cellular protein can change to prevent infection without affecting its role in the cell. (virology.ws)
Because the virus-receptor interaction is essential for viral replication, host cells with a mutation in the receptor gene that prevents virus infection survive and eventually dominate the population. (virology.ws)
The overall Lassa virus infection case-fatality rate is about one percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but that rate rises to 15 percent for patients hospitalized with severe cases of Lassa fever. (nih.gov)
About 80% of people infected by Lassa virus have no symptoms but the virus establishes a life-long persistent infection. (springer.com)
Lassa fever is a viral infection caused by the Lassa fever virus. (sunnewsonline.com)
The virus was named "Lassa Fever" after my hometown where it was believed she must have acquired the infection. (nigeriahealthwatch.com)
The mortality rate from Lassa virus infection is estimated at one percent overall, but it rises to 15-20 percent with severe cases requiring hospitalization, and ribavirin treatment, if begun early enough, has been shown to substantially reduce mortality. (emory.edu)
The patient's suspected Lassa fever infection was verified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upon admission to Emory University Hospital. (emory.edu)
The other patient, a mortician who handled the body, was evacuated to Frankfurt after doctors had confirmed his Lassa infection in Togo. (emory.edu)
Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Lassa fever should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient's blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. (who.int)
Samples taken from humans and animals for investigation of Lassa virus infection should be handled by trained staff and processed in suitably equipped laboratories under maximum biological containment conditions. (who.int)
The virus is still present in the urine for between three and nine weeks after infection, and it can be transmitted in semen for up to three months after becoming infected. (wikipedia.org)
hence, the mechanism by which this common hemorrhagic fever virus controls genome binding during infection is not yet understood. (stanford.edu)
3. The interplay between the host innate immune response and RNA virus infection. (upenn.edu)

Around 15 to 20 per cent of people hospitalised with Lassa fever die from it. (cepi.net)

In some parts of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is believed nearly 15 percent of people admitted to hospitals have Lassa fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (eurekalert.org)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 300,000 Lassa virus infections occur each year. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)

Despite increased awareness, to date only a single case of Lassa fever has been confirmed in Mali. (cdc.gov)
In March 2016, the first documented locally acquired case of Lassa fever (LF) outside Africa occurred, demonstrating the disease's potential as a cross-border health threat. (eurosurveillance.org)
However, the imported case of Lassa fever "is a reminder that we are all connected by international travel. (medicinenet.com)
The first imported case of Lassa fever in more than 20 years occurred in New Jersey in 2004. (medscape.com)

Both isolates and sequences are important for the development and evaluation of medical countermeasures to treat and prevent Lassa fever, such as diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. (nih.gov)
These data are integral for the development of humoral-based vaccines that mimic the mature Lassa virion. (pnas.org)
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases like Lassa fever are global health challenges, and the NIH has a long history of investing in global research to improve the health of people in the United States and around the world,' says NIAID director Anthony S. Fauci, MD. 'The new Lassa virus data set will be valuable for understanding Lassa virus and developing medical countermeasures such as diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
There are no treatments or vaccines targeted to Nipah virus, but it is a priority disease on the World Health Organization (WHO) research and development blueprint. (umn.edu)
On Apr 11 CEPI announced support for Lassa and MERS-CoV vaccines that are in development at Inovio Pharmaceuticals. (umn.edu)
A 10-year Lassa virus research project has yielded structural and functional details of a key viral surface protein that could help advance development of Lassa vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics, which are currently lacking. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)
There are currently no approved Lassa fever vaccines. (nih.gov)
If a company like Themis went to venture capitalists and asked for investment to develop vaccines for Lassa or MERS, chances are nobody would pay us money to develop those vaccines because they are commercial risks. (endpts.com)
With its measles virus platform, Themis is also developing vaccines against Zika, RSV, and norovirus, among other areas. (endpts.com)
At the same time, they will begin studying the natural animal reservoirs of the viruses in an attempt to try and predict which strains are likely to cause future outbreaks, information that will be essential for creating effective vaccines. (cam.ac.uk)

The new genomic catalog contains nearly 200 viral genomes collected from patient samples in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, as well as field samples from the major animal reservoir, or host, of Lassa virus--the rodent Mastomys natalensis, also called the multimammate rat. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
The natural host of Lassa virus is the rodent Mastomys natalensis , otherwise known as the Natal multimammate mouse or rat. (cepi.net)
He says, "The reservoir or host of the Lassa virus is a rodent known as the Multimammate rat of the genus Mastomys. (punchng.com)
Most human Lassa virus outbreaks are caused by multiple exposures to urine or feces from the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, which is the reservoir of the virus in nature. (virology.ws)
People contract Lassa virus through contact with infected Mastomys rats and through exposure to an infected person's bodily fluids. (nih.gov)
Human beings become infected with the Lassa virus from exposure to urine or feces of infected mastomys rats. (xinhuanet.com)

In March 2016, a healthcare worker evacuated from Togo to Germany died and was subsequently diagnosed with Lassa fever. (cepi.net)
Lassa fever cases have increased in Nigeria since 2016 with the highest number, 633 cases, reported in 2018. (eurosurveillance.org)
Since 1 January 2016, WHO has been notified of at least 38 suspected cases of Lassa fever in Liberia. (who.int)

The virus was discovered as part of a plan to identify unknown viruses from Africa by collecting serum specimens from patients with fevers of unknown origin. (cdc.gov)

In Togo, the therapeutic itinerary of patients infected with Lassa virus remains poorly known due to the multiplicity of unqualified participants in therapeutic care. (scirp.org)
Perhaps the most important result from this work is the establishment of laboratories in Sierra Leone and Nigeria that can safely collect and process samples from patients infected with Lassa virus, a BSL-4 pathogen. (virology.ws)

The most efficient way to get Lassa is through a rodent bite. (mirznanii.com)
Scientists state that individuals can contract the virus if they inhale air from an environment that is contaminated by rodent excretions. (punchng.com)
Most Lassa virus infections are a consequence of multiple, independent transmissions from the rodent reservoir. (virology.ws)
Sierra Leone's Health Minister Zainab Bangura said that eradicating the rodent that carries the virus was "almost impossible. (medindia.net)

No vaccine or licensed treatment exists for Lassa fever, although ribavirin, licensed for hepatitis C treatment, has been used with limited success. (eurekalert.org)
In the new study, published Oct. 12, 2015, in Scientific Reports , favipiravir not only effectively treated guinea pigs infected with Lassa virus, it also worked better than ribavirin. (eurekalert.org)
Two days after infecting groups of guinea pigs with a lethal dose of Lassa virus, the scientists treated the rodents daily for two weeks with either ribavirin, low doses of favipiravir, or high doses of favipiravir. (eurekalert.org)
No cure or vaccine is available for Lassa fever, but the antiviral drug ribavirin may help patients if taken early in the course of the disease. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
An antiviral drug known as Ribavirin has been used with success in Lassa Fever patients. (ntells.com)
The way the Virus is treated is with Ribavirin for ten days. (mirznanii.com)
Review of the literature and proposed guidelines for the use of oral ribavirin as postexposure prophylaxis for Lassa fever. (eurosurveillance.org)
The antiviral drug ribavirin can be an effective treatment for Lassa fever if given early on in the course of clinical illness. (upi.com)
Furthermore, there is no commercially available Lassa fever diagnostic assay, thus preventing early detection and rapid implementation of existing treatment regimens (e.g. ribavirin administration). (biomedcentral.com)
influenza virus.RIBAVIRIN X   Digunakan untuk terapi infeksi virus-virus tipe RNA. (scribd.com)

IMPORTANCE Lassa virus is the causative agent of Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever with a case fatality rate of approximately 30% in Africa. (nih.gov)

Günther S. 2019 Lassa virus sequencing in Nigeria - Final field report (75 samples). (eurosurveillance.org)

Most of this data originated from Lassa fever patients diagnosed at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria. (nih.gov)

Lassa fever is prevented in any environment by promoting good `community hygiene` to create uncomfortable environment for rodents. (ntells.com)
The virus is a member of the arenavirus family and is spread primarily by rodents. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)

Describe at least five signs or symptoms of Lassa fever. (cdc.gov)
The common symptoms of Lassa fever is deafness. (ntells.com)
Early symptoms of Lassa fever are similar to those of malaria. (sunnewsonline.com)

There is currently no vaccine against Lassa virus. (cepi.net)
In a move to speed the development of a vaccine against Lassa virus, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) on May 21 announced a partnership to develop a new vaccine candidate with the goal of creating a stockpile to help battle future outbreaks. (umn.edu)

In 2018, the NCDC reported at least 143 Lassa fever deaths across the country. (xinhuanet.com)
Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed that no fewer than 3, 498 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported across Nigeria in 2018, out of which 633 were confirmed positive. (sunnewsonline.com)

Only about 1% of Lassa virus infections result in death. (mnn.com)
We modified and purified a safe drug from natural sources and discovered how it can protect against deadly virus infections," said Ghislain Opdenakker, MD, a researcher involved in the study from the Laboratory of Immunobiology at the Rega Institute for Medical Research and the University of Leuven in Belgium. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
A major factor impeding the development of antiviral compounds to treat these infections is the need to manipulate the virus under BSL-4 containment, limiting research to a few institutes worldwide. (cdc.gov)
Authorities in a second Indian state are investigating two suspected Nipah virus infections, both of them in people who had traveled to Kerala state where they had contact with infected patients, Reuters reported today, citing a health official in Karnataka state. (umn.edu)
Both patients' infections resulted from contact with the same individual at a missionary hospital in Togo, who died from Lassa fever after evacuation to Germany. (emory.edu)
One in five infections results in severe disease, where the virus affects several organs such as the liver, spleen and kidneys. (sunnewsonline.com)

This story starts with a young graduate student in San Diego and leads all the way to Sierra Leone, to a unique hospital where Lassa fever victims arrive by the thousands every year. (news-medical.net)
As Hastie tackled those challenges from her lab bench in San Diego, staff at the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone labored on the front lines of the ongoing fight against Lassa. (news-medical.net)
Epidemics of Lassa fever have occurred in countries such as Sierra Leone, Congo (formerly Zaire), Liberia and Nigeria. (academic.ru)
Modern-day Lassa virus strains probably originated at least 1,000 years ago in Nigeria, then spread to Sierra Leone as recently as 150 years ago. (virology.ws)
Since there are no designated laboratories in Liberia that can test samples for Lassa fever by PCR, specimens are currently sent for testing to Kenema, Sierra Leone. (who.int)
In some areas of Liberia and Sierra Leone, approximately 10 to 16 per cent of those admitted to hospitals each year have Lassa fever, which indicates the serious impact of the virus on the population of these areas. (sunnewsonline.com)
The field performance of recombinant antigen-based Lassa fever immunoassays was compared to that of quantitative polymerase chain assays (qPCRs) using samples from subjects meeting the case definition of Lassa fever presenting to Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. (nih.gov)

In 1969, missionary nurse Laura Wine fell ill with a mysterious disease she contracted from an obstetrical patient in Lassa, a village in Borno State , Nigeria. (wikipedia.org)
Lassa virus was identified in 1969 after the death of two missionary nuns in Nigeria. (cepi.net)
Lassa fever virus is an animal-borne or zoonotic, acute viral illness which was first discovered in the year 1969. (ntells.com)
The Lassa fever virus killed 2 missionary nurses in Nigeria in year 1969 and that was when the virus was named after the town in Nigeria where this cases occurred. (ntells.com)
The virus was first described in 1969 from a case in the town of Lassa, in Borno State , Nigeria . (wikipedia.org)
I have a soft spot in my heart for Lassa virus: a non-fictional account of its discovery in Africa in 1969 inspired me to become a virologist . (virology.ws)
Lassa was identified in 1969 when two missionary nurses died from it in the town of Lassa in Nigeria. (upi.com)
The story started with a missionary nurse- Ms. Laura Wine, posted by the Church of the Brethren in the USA, to the local hospital in Lassa town, in the south of what is now Borno state in 1969. (nigeriahealthwatch.com)

We know that, Favipiravir, also known as T-705 or Avigan, is an experimental antiviral drug being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan with activity against many RNA viruses. (med-chemist.com)

A new vaccine effectively protected people from Lassa fever and rabies -- another illness predominant in Africa -- in a trial involving mice and guinea pigs. (upi.com)
Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A new vaccine showed preclinical promise at effectively protecting people from Lassa fever and rabies in a study involving mice and guinea pigs. (upi.com)
Also, the vaccine protected guinea pigs from Lassa fever after being exposed to the virus 58 days after vaccination. (upi.com)

We sequenced and isolated 77 Lassa virus strains from 16 Nigerian states. (nih.gov)
The majority of sequences clustered with the main Nigerian lineages II and III, while a few sequences formed a new cluster related to Lassa virus strains from Hylomyscus pamfi Within lineages II and III, seven and five sublineages, respectively, were distinguishable. (nih.gov)
Virus-specific primers are however biased towards known strains and variants and do not capture divergent or unknown viruses in the sample. (biomedcentral.com)

Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. (springer.com)

Lassa fever causes hemorrhagic fever frequently shown by immunosuppression. (wikipedia.org)

Science writer David Quammen ventured deep into the forest of central Africa to try to find out for his latest book "Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus. (pri.org)

With thousands dying from Lassa every year-;and the potential for the virus to cause even larger outbreaks- researchers are committed to designing a vaccine to stop it. (news-medical.net)
Suitable for field deployment during Lassa fever outbreaks and in resource-poor settings. (deepdyve.com)

This study , which presents the crystal structure of Lassa GCP bound to a human neutralizing antibody, is therefore a huge breakthrough. (id-hub.com)
Their research provides the first detailed view of the Lassa GPC bound to a human neutralizing antibody from an African survivor. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)

The investigational vaccine, called LASSARAB, includes inactivated genetic material from Lassa virus and a rabies virus vector. (upi.com)

Although Lassa fever is often a mild illness, some people experience serious symptoms, such as hemorrhage (severe bleeding) and shock. (nih.gov)

While Lassa fever is often mild, the disease can be severe with signs and symptoms similar to those of Ebola virus disease. (infectioncontroltoday.com)
Lassa fever is a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. (symptoma.com)
Recent studies have suggested the overall fatality rate for Lassa Fever is between 1 and 10 percent, but the rate among patients hospitalized with severe disease is between 50 and 70 percent. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)
Around 80 percent of exposures are mild and go unreported but serious symptoms of lassa include severe bleeding and shock, according to WHO . (upi.com)
The mortality rate for patients hospitalized with severe cases of Lassa fever is 15 percent. (upi.com)

Our data suggest that PCR may be applied as an alternative to virus isolation in the rapid diagnosis of Lassa fever. (asm.org)
LLC,Germantown,Maryland,USA(L.M.Branco);PublicHealth by virus isolation and sequence analysis ( 16 ). (cdc.gov)
We report the isolation and genetic characterization of Lassa virus from an area previously unknown for Lassa fever. (cdc.gov)

Detection of Lassa virus RNA in specimens from patients with Lassa fever by using the polymerase chain reaction. (asm.org)
Rapid detection of Lassa virus isolates in southeast and south-central Nigeria. (deepdyve.com)

Lassa virus, a member of the Arenavirus family, is very different from Ebolavirus (a filovirus), but both are zoonotic pathogens that may cause hemorrhagic fever. (virology.ws)

Novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of Lassa fever are therefore urgently needed. (asm.org)

A common complication in survivors of Lassa fever is hearing loss. (cepi.net)

Lassa virus only possesses one antigen on its viral surface - the Lassa glycoprotein precursor complex (GPC) - which is known to mediate viral binding and entry to host cells. (id-hub.com)
Knowing the structure of a virus surface molecule called the Lassa glycoprotein precursor complex (GPC) may be important to developing a vaccine. (scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com)

Suitable oligonucleotide primers and probes were synthesized to amplify Lassa virus (Josiah strain)-specific nucleoprotein and glycoprotein gene fragments by using reverse transcription combined with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). (asm.org)
The S segment encodes for the virus nucleoprotein and glycoprotein, whereas the L segment encodes for the virus polymerase (L) and Z protein. (pnas.org)
Description: Virus-like Particles (VLP's) expressing recombinant Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP), nucleoprotein (NP), and matrix protein (VP40). (thomassci.com)
Surface representation of the Lassa virus nucleoprotein showing the RNA bound in between the two sub-domains, highlighting, in particular, a deep pocket that could be a prime target for anti-virals. (stanford.edu)

A novel vaccine designed to protect people from both Lassa fever and rabies showed promise in preclinical testing, according to new research published in Nature Communications . (nih.gov)