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
. 2021 Apr 24;20(1):29.
doi: 10.1186/s12941-021-00431-0.

The niche of One Health approaches in Lassa fever surveillance and control

Liã Bárbara Arruda  1 , Najmul Haider  2 , Ayodeji Olayemi  3 , David Simons  2 , Deborah Ehichioya  4   5 , Adesola Yinka-Ogunleye  6 , Rashid Ansumana  7 , Margaret J Thomason  8 , Danny Asogun  4 , Chikwe Ihekweazu  6 , Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet  9 , Richard A Kock  2
Affiliations
Review

The niche of One Health approaches in Lassa fever surveillance and control

Liã Bárbara Arruda et al. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. .

Abstract

Lassa fever (LF), a zoonotic illness, represents a public health burden in West African countries where the Lassa virus (LASV) circulates among rodents. Human exposure hinges significantly on LASV ecology, which is in turn shaped by various parameters such as weather seasonality and even virus and rodent-host genetics. Furthermore, human behaviour, despite playing a key role in the zoonotic nature of the disease, critically affects either the spread or control of human-to-human transmission. Previous estimations on LF burden date from the 80s and it is unclear how the population expansion and the improvement on diagnostics and surveillance methods have affected such predictions. Although recent data have contributed to the awareness of epidemics, the real impact of LF in West African communities will only be possible with the intensification of interdisciplinary efforts in research and public health approaches. This review discusses the causes and consequences of LF from a One Health perspective, and how the application of this concept can improve the surveillance and control of this disease in West Africa.

Keywords: Emerging infectious diseases; Lassa fever; One Health; Zoonosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
LASV lineage distribution across West Africa in relation to rodent host species. Virus lineages appear in red. Rodent taxa are abbreviated as Mn Mastomys natalensis, Me Mastomys erythroleucus, Hp Hylomyscus pamfi; Musb Mus baoulei. Brackets toward the bottom describe the geographical ranges of Mastomys natalensis mitochondrial lineage A-I (across West Africa) and A-II (extending into Central Africa). Red boxes indicate examples of LASV hotspots mentioned in this review where fine-scaled genetic studies have already begun
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Different aspects of a Mastomys natalensis rodent (a–d). Speciments were captured during a LASV ecological survey in Nigeria, 2015. Images c and d show the distinctive high number of nipples (8–12 pairs) present in mature, lactating females. Photo credits: Olayemi et al., Nigeria, 2015
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Lassa fever outbreaks from 2017 to 2020 eported by the WHO Regional Office for Africa. Nigeria and Liberia have had ongoing LF outbreaks since 2017. Although Nigeria reported a significantly higher number of cases, Liberia presented a proportionally higher number of deaths. High case fatality ratios for Sierra Leone and Guinea might be biased due to the low number of cases reported
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kock RA. Will the damage be done before we feel the heat? Infectious disease emergence and human response. Anim Health Res Rev. 2013;14(2):127–132. doi: 10.1017/S1466252313000108. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karesh WB, Cook RA. One world–one health. Clin Med (Lond) 2009;9(3):259–260. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.9-3-259. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kock R. Drivers of disease emergence and spread: is wildlife to blame? Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 2014;81(2):E1–4. doi: 10.4102/ojvr.v81i2.739. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bonwitt J, Kelly AH, Ansumana R, Agbla S, Sahr F, Saez AM, Borchert M, Kock R, Fichet-Calvet E. Rat-atouille: a mixed method study to characterize rodent hunting and consumption in the context of Lassa fever. EcoHealth. 2016;13(2):234–247. doi: 10.1007/s10393-016-1098-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fichet-Calvet E. Chapter 5—Lassa fever: a rodent-human interaction. In: Johnson N, editor. The role of animals in emerging viral diseases. Boston: Academic Press; 2014. pp. 89–123.

LinkOut - more resources