Determining Ancestry between Rodent- and Human-Derived Virus Sequences in Endemic Foci: Towards a More Integral Molecular Epidemiology of Lassa Fever within West Africa.

ABSTRACT: Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic illness responsible for thousands of human deaths in West Africa yearly. Rodents are known as natural reservoirs of the causative Lassa mammarenavirus (LASV) while humans are regarded as incidental, spill-over hosts. Analysis of genetic sequences continues to add to our understanding of the evolutionary history, emergence patterns, and the epidemiology of LASV. Hitherto, the source of data in such investigations has mainly comprised human clinical samples. Presently, a rise in the quantity of virus strains accessed through ecological studies over the last 15 years now allows us to explore how LASV sequences obtained from rodents might affect phylogenetic patterns. In this study, we phylogenetically compared LASV sequences obtained from both rodents and hu

SUBMITTER: Olayemi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7167862 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature