Interesting retrospective cohort analysis of suspected #LassaFever cases in #Nigeria.

Finding that case positivity rate has declined since 2018-2021 to around 10%, suggesting dramatic improvement in test availability and surveillance activity. 👏

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33187-y

Very cool to see the protocol of the #LassaFever epidemiology study by @CEPIvaccines in print @PLOSNTDs. Intensive active surveillance should be useful.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283643

Shame no combined rodent work but a useful baseline of human epi to combine with future rodent work.

Latest @NCDCgov #LassaFever report highlights impacts of external events on surveillance. Feb 2019 and 2023 showed earlier precipitous drops in case numbers than expected.

Likely due to Presidential election, both years showing rebound in cases after election.

#Zoonoses

A great first step in developing a #LassaFever vaccine for human use. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00048-X/fulltext#%20

First time in human trial, assessing safety and tolerability of a vaccine. Long way to go to get it into the arms of people who need it most.

Fewer #LassaFever cases reported from #Nigeria this week compared to last year. Not sure how they handle testing delay in their reports. Wouldn't be surprised if elections will impact case numbers over the next few weeks as we near the traditional end of the #spillover season.
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RT @NCDCgov
#Lassafeverinfo

Our latest Lassa Fever Situation Report has been published on our website (week 8).

This week's situation report and that of previo…
https://twitter.com/NCDCgov/status/1631356775126425617

If you look you find!

My understanding is that prior to this week #Ghana had only recorded 2 cases of #LassaFever since 2011. 12 additional cases identified from contact tracing, and 1 probable case from a distant region suggest further epidemiological work is required.
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RT @_GHSofficial
❗️PRESS RELEASE ❗️
Update on Lassa Fever Outbreak in Ghana -28th February 2023 https://t.co/ASSLIjvCkV
https://twitter.com/_GHSofficial/status/1630698854440919041

#LassaFever reported from Ghana. Considered endemic but does not regularly report cases. The fact that the first case was only identified post-mortem highlights why.

A previous study showed prevalence of antibodies in humans but limited rodent studies. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0215224
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RT @_GHSofficial
❗️PRESS RELEASE ❗️
Two Confirmed Lassa Fever Cases in Ghana
https://twitter.com/_GHSofficial/status/1629754687871172608

So, if we truly want to understand the changing risk of #LassaFever and other rodent borne endemic zoonoses under climate change, landuse change and population/development. I think we need one of these. 2-3 year studies are not enough.

Who wants to find me 😂
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RT @RoyalSocBio
The Biologist looks at some of the UK's longest running field experiments – some of which have been running for over a century – and how they can tell us thin…
https://twitter.com/RoyalSocBio/status/1628400718569693185

Fantastic to see this published! A seroprevalence study for Lassa Fever conducted by the #SierraLeonean KGH #LassaFever team and #TulaneUniversity team. Can stop using the 1970's reference now 🤣 .

Most importantly they found seroprevalence >50% from villages across the country. This overturns orthodoxy of limited distribution of #LassaFever within the country. Much more effort is required to understand this spatial heterogeneity. Which unfortunately means longer and more expensive studies.

Kicking off training on a novel #LuciferaseImmunoprecipitation assay for #LassaFever @UniversityNjala developed by Isobel Honeyborne among others as part of a #OneHealth @PandoraIDNet project to understand Lassa transmission in Sierra Leone.

#LassaFever case counts in week 2 from #Nigeria. Greatest number of cases ever detected at the beginning of the year. The annual trend of <20 cases per week in December to >80 cases per week in January.

Would love to be able to study this more. This appears to me too synchronised to be driven by purely rodent factors.

A nice study of #LassaFever in #Guinea by @stephanie200586 and colleagues. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/2/21-2525_article

Found evidence that fractured habitats are associated with increased exposure.

Seroprevalence up to 59% but so few clinical cases reported from Guinea. <20 in 10 years. 🤔

I am particularly interested in rodent-borne zoonosis spillover into human populations in #WestAfrica. I am studying #LassaFever but this is one of many viral and bacterial zoonoses in the region. This work collates and synthesises rodent trapping studies to understand sampling.

I've been frustrated with some of the numbers reported when discussing #LassaFever this hopefully quantifies some of the uncertainty around numbers of reported cases.

Would love to explore further if of interest to those who hold the data. @NCDCgov @Chikwe_I
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RT @RSTMH
New in our journal #InternationalHealth: David Simons (@David_Simons_UK) highlights current uncertainty and systemic underreporting of the morbidity and mortality burden …
https://twitter.com/RSTMH/status/1597590039768498177

Hello! I head up global communications at IAVI, a nonprofit that develops vaccines and antibodies for #HIV #tuberculosis and #EIDs like #LassaFever #EbolaSudan and #COVID19. We're exploring a move over here and I'm a scout. #IDMastodon #introduction

Feeling like a grown up #PhDStudent having been invited to attend a really interesting sounding workshop on #TransmissibleVaccines that may be of use in #LassaFever, among other zoonoses.

https://transmissiblevaccines.org/workshop-dev-vaccines/

#Introduction

Hi, I have moved here from the other place.

I am a current PhD student interested in how land use change can alter the dynamics of zoonotic infectious disease spillover at local scales. Particularly #LassaFever🐀 in #SierraLeone🇸🇱 .

I have recently updated my website to explain my work in a bit more depth. www.dsimons.org

And the obligatory field work pic of some inquisitive rats.