Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008 Apr;78(1):103-15.
doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2007.11.003. Epub 2007 Dec 17.

New opportunities for field research on the pathogenesis and treatment of Lassa fever

Sheik Humarr Khan  1 , Augustine Goba, May Chu, Cathy Roth, Tim Healing, Arthur Marx, Joseph Fair, Mary C Guttieri, Philip Ferro, Tiffany Imes, Corina Monagin, Robert F Garry, Daniel G Bausch; Mano River Union Lassa Fever Network
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

New opportunities for field research on the pathogenesis and treatment of Lassa fever

Sheik Humarr Khan et al. Antiviral Res. 2008 Apr.

Abstract

Unlike many viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), Lassa fever (LF) is not a rare disease that emerges only as sporadic cases or in outbreak form. Although surveillance is inadequate to determine the true incidence, up to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths from LF are estimated to occur yearly. The highest incidence is in the "Mano River Union (MRU) countries" of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Although civil unrest in this region over the past two decades has impeded capacity building and research, new-found peace in recent years presents new opportunities. In 2004, the Mano River Union Lassa Fever Network (MRU LFN) was established to assist MRU countries in the development of national and regional surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of LF. Here, we review the present literature on treatment and pathogenesis of LF and outline priorities for future research in the field made possible by the improved research capacity of the MRU LFN.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

  • Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview.
    Ogbu O, Ajuluchukwu E, Uneke CJ. Ogbu O, et al. J Vector Borne Dis. 2007 Mar;44(1):1-11. J Vector Borne Dis. 2007. PMID: 17378212 Review.
  • Lassa fever in post-conflict sierra leone.
    Shaffer JG, Grant DS, Schieffelin JS, Boisen ML, Goba A, Hartnett JN, Levy DC, Yenni RE, Moses LM, Fullah M, Momoh M, Fonnie M, Fonnie R, Kanneh L, Koroma VJ, Kargbo K, Ottomassathien D, Muncy IJ, Jones AB, Illick MM, Kulakosky PC, Haislip AM, Bishop CM, Elliot DH, Brown BL, Zhu H, Hastie KM, Andersen KG, Gire SK, Tabrizi S, Tariyal R, Stremlau M, Matschiner A, Sampey DB, Spence JS, Cross RW, Geisbert JB, Folarin OA, Happi CT, Pitts KR, Geske FJ, Geisbert TW, Saphire EO, Robinson JE, Wilson RB, Sabeti PC, Henderson LA, Khan SH, Bausch DG, Branco LM, Garry RF; Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium. Shaffer JG, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Mar 20;8(3):e2748. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002748. eCollection 2014 Mar. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014. PMID: 24651047 Free PMC article.
  • [A man with fatal Lassa fever following a stay in Sierra Leone].
    Veldkamp PJ, Schippers EF. Veldkamp PJ, et al. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2002 Nov 16;146(46):2201-4. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2002. PMID: 12467165 Dutch.
  • The broad-spectrum antiviral favipiravir protects guinea pigs from lethal Lassa virus infection post-disease onset.
    Safronetz D, Rosenke K, Westover JB, Martellaro C, Okumura A, Furuta Y, Geisbert J, Saturday G, Komeno T, Geisbert TW, Feldmann H, Gowen BB. Safronetz D, et al. Sci Rep. 2015 Oct 12;5:14775. doi: 10.1038/srep14775. Sci Rep. 2015. PMID: 26456301 Free PMC article.
  • Lassa fever in West Africa: evidence for an expanded region of endemicity.
    Sogoba N, Feldmann H, Safronetz D. Sogoba N, et al. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012 Sep;59 Suppl 2:43-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01469.x. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012. PMID: 22958249 Review.
See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Molecular diagnostics for lassa fever at Irrua specialist teaching hospital, Nigeria: lessons learnt from two years of laboratory operation.
    Asogun DA, Adomeh DI, Ehimuan J, Odia I, Hass M, Gabriel M, Olschläger S, Becker-Ziaja B, Folarin O, Phelan E, Ehiane PE, Ifeh VE, Uyigue EA, Oladapo YT, Muoebonam EB, Osunde O, Dongo A, Okokhere PO, Okogbenin SA, Momoh M, Alikah SO, Akhuemokhan OC, Imomeh P, Odike MA, Gire S, Andersen K, Sabeti PC, Happi CT, Akpede GO, Günther S. Asogun DA, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(9):e1839. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001839. Epub 2012 Sep 27. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012. PMID: 23029594 Free PMC article.
  • Factors Underlying Ebola Virus Infection Among Health Workers, Kenema, Sierra Leone, 2014-2015.
    Senga M, Pringle K, Ramsay A, Brett-Major DM, Fowler RA, French I, Vandi M, Sellu J, Pratt C, Saidu J, Shindo N, Bausch DG; Sierra Leone Kenema District Task Force and Kenema Government Hospital. Senga M, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2016 Aug 15;63(4):454-9. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciw327. Epub 2016 May 18. Clin Infect Dis. 2016. PMID: 27193749 Free PMC article.
  • The fecal viral flora of wild rodents.
    Phan TG, Kapusinszky B, Wang C, Rose RK, Lipton HL, Delwart EL. Phan TG, et al. PLoS Pathog. 2011 Sep;7(9):e1002218. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002218. Epub 2011 Sep 1. PLoS Pathog. 2011. PMID: 21909269 Free PMC article.
  • Clinical illness and outcomes in patients with Ebola in Sierra Leone.
    Schieffelin JS, Shaffer JG, Goba A, Gbakie M, Gire SK, Colubri A, Sealfon RS, Kanneh L, Moigboi A, Momoh M, Fullah M, Moses LM, Brown BL, Andersen KG, Winnicki S, Schaffner SF, Park DJ, Yozwiak NL, Jiang PP, Kargbo D, Jalloh S, Fonnie M, Sinnah V, French I, Kovoma A, Kamara FK, Tucker V, Konuwa E, Sellu J, Mustapha I, Foday M, Yillah M, Kanneh F, Saffa S, Massally JL, Boisen ML, Branco LM, Vandi MA, Grant DS, Happi C, Gevao SM, Fletcher TE, Fowler RA, Bausch DG, Sabeti PC, Khan SH, Garry RF; KGH Lassa Fever Program; Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium; WHO Clinical Response Team. Schieffelin JS, et al. N Engl J Med. 2014 Nov 27;371(22):2092-100. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1411680. Epub 2014 Oct 29. N Engl J Med. 2014. PMID: 25353969 Free PMC article.
  • Structure and functionality in flavivirus NS-proteins: perspectives for drug design.
    Bollati M, Alvarez K, Assenberg R, Baronti C, Canard B, Cook S, Coutard B, Decroly E, de Lamballerie X, Gould EA, Grard G, Grimes JM, Hilgenfeld R, Jansson AM, Malet H, Mancini EJ, Mastrangelo E, Mattevi A, Milani M, Moureau G, Neyts J, Owens RJ, Ren J, Selisko B, Speroni S, Steuber H, Stuart DI, Unge T, Bolognesi M. Bollati M, et al. Antiviral Res. 2010 Aug;87(2):125-48. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2009.11.009. Epub 2009 Nov 27. Antiviral Res. 2010. PMID: 19945487 Free PMC article. Review.
See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources