查看文章

In this population-based study, we correlated possible risk factors for rodent-to-human transmission of Lassa virus with markers of Lassa fever in two different regions of the Republic of Guinea (Prefectures of Pita and Gueckedou). Antibody prevalence was 2.6%(6 of 232) in Pita compared with 14.0%(105 of 751) in Gueckedou, with up to 35.0% senopositivity in selected villages of the higher prevalence area. We observed three major risk factors in Gueckedou favoring Lassa virus transmission: rodent infestation was much higher, food was more often stoned uncovered and most strikingly, peridomestic rodents were hunted as a protein source by 91.5% of the population as opposed to 0% in Pita. To control for the confounding effects of differences in rodent infestation and food storage, rodent consumption was analyzed as a risk factor for transmission of Lassa virus comparing rodent consumers (RC) and nonconsumens(NC) in Gueckedou only: 14.6% of RC had Lassa virus antibodies versus 7.4% of NC (P= 0.1) and 23.0% of RC reported a history of a febrile illness with hearing loss (the most common sequel of Lassa fever) versus 6.1% of NC (P= 0.003).

Lassa fever is an endemic disease of West Africa caused by the Lassa virus, whose natural host, the multimammate mouse Mastomys natalensis, is ubiquitous and lives in a semidomestic fashion near human dwellings) Up to 500,000 infections in the human population are estimated to occur annually in West Africa (Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea), of which approximately 30% result in an illness ranging from mild, flu-like symptoms to fulminant hemor rhagic fever.'Overall lethality is 1— 2 …