Lassa mammarenavirus is an emerging virus and a select agent, requiring biosafety level 4equivalent containment. Lassa virus was discovered in 1969 by a team led by dr. Improved detection of lassa virus by reverse transcriptionpcr targeting. Lassa virus, which is a member of the arenaviridae virus family, causes acute viral hemorrhagic fever. It was first reported in 1969 in the town of lassa, in borno state, nigeria. The newest way to fight ovarian cancer might just be a. Lassa virus article about lassa virus by the free dictionary. Natal multimammate mouse is the primary reservoir of lassa virus, found in subsaharan africa. It is endemic in parts of west africa including sierra leone, liberia, guinea and nigeria.
The search engine above will seek products into the complete catalogue. Neighboring countries are also at risk, as the animal vector for lassa virus. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Lassa virus is transmitted by the multimammate rat, also known as mastomys natalensis. To facilitate the functional analysis of this virus, a replicon system was developed based on lassa virus strain av. Lassa virus is a virulent and highly transmissible rna virus that belongs to the arenavirus group. Lassa virus synonyms, lassa virus pronunciation, lassa virus translation, english dictionary definition of lassa virus. Lassa virus was isolated from the sierra leone case.
General facts viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the arenavirus lassa transmitted from rodents to humans discovered in nigeria, 1969 endemic in portions of west africa seasonal clustering. Health workers may be infected by direct contact with blood, body fluids, urine, or stool of a patient with lassa fever. Cell entry of lassa virus induces tyrosine phosphorylation of dystroglycan marielaurence moraz,1 christelle pythoud,1 rolf turk,2 sylvia rothenberger,1 antonella pasquato,1 kevin p. Pathophysiology and treatment of lassa fever springerlink. Lassa virus has an incubation period of 124 days and death usually occurs within 12 days after the onset. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. Lassa virus the rna virus that causes lassa fever arenavirus animal viruses belonging to the family arenaviridae arenaviridae a family of. Mar 14, 2016 lassa fever infects an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 individuals in west africa each year and around 5,000 result in death. The lassa virus is a vulgar virus with a high mortality rate and an expensive cure. The center of disease control and prevention has confirmed a case of lassa fever at emory university hospital.
It is a singlestranded rna virus of the arenaviridae family, and it is animal borne. The risk of getting lassa fever in the united states is extremely low signs and symptoms of lassa fever are usually mild lassa fever can be treated if a healthcare worker suspects lassa fever in a patient, a laboratory test can diagnose the disease. Lassa virus a taxonomic species within the genus arenavirus endemic in west africa, responsible for lassa hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates. Lassa fever by carly brown discovery john frame 1969 collaborated with yale arbovirus research unit typestructure arenaviridae family spherical lipid membrane singlestranded rna transportation zoonotic hostmultimammate rat genus mastomys person to person transportationcont. Cette maladie a ete decouverte en 1969 lorsque deux infirmieres missionnaires sont mortes au nigeria. The multimammate mouse mastomys natalensis is the only known nonhuman host for lassa virus monath et al. The additional filters enable you with creating a subselection of items of this list. Improved detection of lassa virus by reverse transcriptionpcr targeting the 5 region of s rna article pdf available in journal of clinical microbiology 486. Lassa fever lf is an acute and sometimes severe viral hemorrhagic illness endemic in west africa. Structure lysogenic vs lytic airborne transmitted virus mastomys rodents urine or droppings person to person blood body. Lassa virus definition of lassa virus by the free dictionary. The clinical disease begins as a flulike illness characterized by fever, general weakness, and malaise, which may be accompanied by cough, sore throat, and severe headache. The mobile unit was used once before, in an outbreak of lassa fever in sierra leone in 1972, when dr. While lassa fever is mild or has no observable symptoms in about 80% of people infected with the virus, the remaining 20% have a more severe multisystem.
Media in category lassa virusthe following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. It has also been found that most cases of lassa fever occur as the seasons change from dry to wet. Improved detection of lassa virus by reverse transcriptionpcr targeting the 5 region of s rna. In 1972, the rodent reservoir of lassa virus was identified as the multimammate rat mastomys natalensis. What you need to know about lassa fever 6 april 6 april 6 april 6 april 6 april 6 april 6 april estimated number of lassa fever cases in west africa each year death rate from ebola death rate from lassa fever estimated number of deaths lassa fever is caused by a virus that is found in west africa. Lassa virus is a member of the old world arenaviruses, and, as such, is endemic in western africa. Outside of the case at emory university hospital, there have been six other cases of lassa fever reported in the united states.
The virus is spread to humans via the rats urine in airborne. Lassa mammarenavirus lasv is an arenavirus that causes lassa hemorrhagic fever, a type of viral hemorrhagic fever vhf, in humans and other primates. Despite the paucity of autopsied cases, the existing reports do represent a well documented sample. The incubation period of lassa fever ranges from 7 to 21 days 34,58. However, the full extent of lassas endemicity is unknown due to poor mean of contact and communication with the rural villages where lassa is surely seen, a factor that prevents both reporting and. The causative virus is an arenavirus and is harbored by a rat, mastomys natalensis. It is endemic in west african countries, especially sierra leone, the republic of guinea, nigeria, and. Introduction to lassa fever world health organization. Lassa viruses are ss rna viruses family arenaviridae causing severe haemorrhagic disease cf ebola haemorrhagic disease. Lassa fever lf belongs to a group of viral hemorrhagic fevers characterized by a febrile syndrome and high casefatality rates. National notifiable diseases surveillance system nndss note. Pdf the method of choice for the detection of lassa virus is reverse transcription rtpcr. Lassa virus, the causative agent of lassa fever, is a member of the family arenaviridae.
Lassa was strange to me because i have never heard of the virus before. Chemotherapy of lassa virus infection springerlink. Lassa virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease called lassa fever and is endemic to western africa. Mastomys rats infected with lassa virus do not become ill, but they can shed the virus in their urine and faeces. Lassa virus is endemic to west africa and causes hemorrhagic fever in humans. As i was reading in my research, i began to realize the risk the virus has on people. Lassa fever, also known as lassa hemorrhagic fever lhf, is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the lassa virus. The multimammate rat mastomys natalensis is the only known reservoir of lasv. Mar 22, 1974 the mobile unit was used once before, in an outbreak of lassa fever in sierra leone in 1972, when dr. The centers for disease control and prevention estimates that up to 300,000 lassa virus infections occur each year. Lassa fever is one of the hemorrhagic fever viruses like ebola virus, marburg virus, and others unlike ebola virus, lassa fever is not as contagious person to person, nor as deadly lassa virus is typically transmitted by the urine or feces of mastomys rats to humans. Lassa virus infection in man may be followed by a spectrum of disease that. Lassa is named after the town in which it was discovered.
When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, and muscle pains. How does the virus infect the body and move from host to host. Lassa fever is an acute febrile illness caused by an arenavirus lassa virus first isolated in 1969 from patients in nigeria. A new virus carried by programs embedded in adobes pdf file format files raises concerns that the. Against the backdrop of the raging lassa fever virus, the redeemers university, run, ede, osun state, has developed a test kit known as panlassa rapid diagnostics test pl. A new virus carried by programs embedded in adobes pdf file format files raises concerns that the format itself could become susceptible to viruses. Since then, human infection and disease have been observed in five other countries in west africa, and related viruses have been isolated from. Details of lassa virus structure could inform development of. Lassa virus definition of lassa virus by medical dictionary.
For this reason, some items on this page will be unavailable. This page was last edited on 2 december 2018, at 18. Lassa virus lasv is endemic to parts of west africa and causes highly fatal hemorrhagic fever. There is no risk of primary infection with lassa virus in community. Such infections are often asymptomatic, but in those who become ill, the disease can range from an uncomplicated fever of unknown origin to a fulminating hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a member of the arenavirus family and is spread primarily by rodents.
It is an acute febrile viral illness lasting one to four weeks, and it occurs in west africa and some areas beyond. Cell entry of lassa virus induces tyrosine phosphorylation. Lf differs from most viral hemorrhagic fevers in that it is endemic to a large geographic area of subsaharan africa. Jun 02, 2017 lassa virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease called lassa fever and is endemic to western africa. Started in 1995, this collection now contains 6767 interlinked topic pages divided into a tree of 31 specialty books and 732 chapters. Javascript is disabled or is not supported by your browser. Most human infections result from zoonotic transmission.
The above image is 500 pixels across, the original measures 5000 pixels across. An old world arenavirus that causes fever in human and nonhuman primates. Johnson km, mccormick jb, webb pa, smith es, elliott lh, king ij. Campbell2 and stefan kunz1 1institute of microbiology, lausanne university hospital and university of lausanne, lausanne, switzerland. Details of lassa virus structure could inform development.
The disease was first recognized in lassa, nigeria, in 1969. Sequence variability and geographic distribution of lassa. Feb 06, 20 lassa fever lf is an acute and sometimes severe viral hemorrhagic illness endemic in west africa. Only 20% of people who contract lassa fever have severe multisystem trauma, meaning that 80% of people have only the milder symptoms. Infection with lassa virus in humans may take many forms. Less commonly there may be bleeding from the mouth or gastrointestinal tract. They are enveloped greenish layer in this image and studded with red protein spikes. A historical look at the first reported cases of lassa fever. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Lassa fever is a viral illness that originated in west africa in 1969. Ribavirin, an antiviral drug, has been used to successfully treat patients with lassa fever. Emond rt, bannister b, lloyd g, southee tj, bowen et. Lassa virus lasv is a member of the old world complex of viruses, genus arenavirus, family arenaviridae, which also includes lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus lcmv and lujo virus. The lassa virus is a contagious virus that causes headaches, muscle pain, facial swelling, hearing loss, and possibly, death.
Lassa fever is an illness caused by lassa virus, a singlestranded rna hemorrhagic fever virus from the family arenaviridae. Late rainy and early dry season affects all age groups and both sexes 3. Late rainy and early dry season affects all age groups and both sexes. However, the full extent of lassas endemicity is unknown due to poor mean of contact and communication with the rural villages where lassa is surely seen, a factor that prevents both reporting and treatment of infection. Immune responses and lassa virus infection europe pmc. Beneath the envelope lipid bilayer lies the matrix protein z protein, shown in blue and deeper to this the rnp shown in yellow.
Lassa antibody and antigen were found in 96 11% and 46 5%, respectively, of 884 tested mastomys demby et al. The rodents shed the virus in their urine and droppings. The very diverse lasv genome has 4 major lineages associated with different geographic locations. Diagnosis of lassa fever and the isolation and management. Cases of lassa fever in the netherlands ex sierra leone ecdc. This page lists the evag products having been related to the lassa virus virus name. Clinical description and pathogenesis of lassa fever. Redeemers varsity develops 10mins lassa fever testkit.
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