Smither Allison R, Koninga James, Kanneh Franklyn B, Foday Momoh, Boisen Matthew L, Bond Nell G, Momoh Mambu, Sandi John Demby, Kanneh Lansana, Alhasan Foday, Kanneh Ibrahim Mustapha, Yillah Mohamed S, Grant Donald S, Bush Duane J, Nelson Diana K S, Cruz Kaitlin M, Klitting Raphaëlle, Pauthner Matthias, Andersen Kristian G, Shaffer Jeffrey G, Cross Robert W, Schieffelin John S, Garry Robert F
Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New Orleans, LA, USA.
University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston National Laboratory, Galveston, TX, USA.
medRxiv. 2023 Mar 20:2023.03.17.23287380. doi: 10.1101/2023.03.17.23287380.
Lassa fever (LF) is a rodent-borne disease endemic to West Africa. In the absence of licensed therapeutics or vaccines, rodent exclusion from living spaces remains the primary method of preventing LF. Zoonotic surveillance of Lassa virus (LASV), the etiologic agent of LF, can assess the burden of LASV in a region and guide public health measures against LF.
In this study, we adapted commercially available LASV human diagnostics to assess the prevalence of LASV in peri-domestic rodents in Eastern Sierra Leone. Small mammal trapping was conducted in Kenema district, Sierra Leone between November 2018-July 2019. LASV antigen was detected using a commercially available LASV NP antigen rapid diagnostic test. LASV IgG antibodies against LASV nucleoprotein (NP) and glycoprotein (GP) were tested by adapting a commercially available semi-quantitative enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of mouse-related and rat-related species IgG.
Of the 373 tested specimens, 74 (20%) tested positive for LASV antigen. 40 (11%) specimens tested positive for LASV NP IgG, while an additional 12 (3%) specimens only tested positive for LASV GP IgG. Simultaneous antigen presence and IgG antibody presence was linked in . specimens ( < 0.01), but not . specimens ( = 1). Despite the link between antigen presence and IgG antibody presence in ., the strength of antigen response did not correlate with the strength of IgG response to either GP IgG or NP IgG.
The tools developed in this study can aid in the generation of valuable public health data for rapid field assessment of LASV burden during outbreak investigations and general LASV surveillance.
Funding for this work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services under the following grants: International Collaboration in Infectious Disease Research on Lassa fever and Ebola - ICIDR - U19 AI115589, Consortium for Viral Systems Biology - CViSB - 5U19AI135995, West African Emerging Infectious Disease Research Center - WARN-ID - U01AI151812, West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases: U01AI151801.
拉沙热（LF）是一种由啮齿动物传播的疾病，在西非流行。在缺乏许可的治疗方法或疫苗的情况下，防止啮齿动物进入居住空间仍然是预防拉沙热的主要方法。对拉沙病毒（LASV）（拉沙热的病原体）进行人畜共患病监测，可以评估该病毒在一个地区的负担，并指导针对拉沙热的公共卫生措施。
在本研究中，我们采用市售的拉沙病毒人类诊断方法，以评估塞拉利昂东部家庭周边啮齿动物中拉沙病毒的流行情况。2018年11月至2019年7月期间，在塞拉利昂凯内马区开展了小型哺乳动物诱捕工作。使用市售的拉沙病毒核蛋白（NP）抗原快速诊断检测法检测拉沙病毒抗原。通过采用市售的半定量酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）来检测与小鼠和大鼠相关物种的IgG，以检测针对拉沙病毒核蛋白（NP）和糖蛋白（GP）的拉沙病毒IgG抗体。
在373份检测样本中，74份（20%）拉沙病毒抗原检测呈阳性。40份（11%）样本拉沙病毒NP IgG检测呈阳性，另有12份（3%）样本仅拉沙病毒GP IgG检测呈阳性。在. 样本中，抗原和IgG抗体同时存在具有相关性（<0.01），但在. 样本中则无相关性（=1）。尽管在. 中抗原存在与IgG抗体存在之间存在关联，但抗原反应强度与针对GP IgG或NP IgG的IgG反应强度并无相关性。
本研究中开发的工具有助于生成有价值的公共卫生数据，用于在疫情调查和拉沙病毒常规监测期间对拉沙病毒负担进行快速现场评估。
本研究得到了美国国立卫生研究院国家过敏和传染病研究所、卫生与公众服务部的资助，资助项目如下：拉沙热和埃博拉传染病国际合作研究 - ICIDR - U19 AI115589、病毒系统生物学联盟 - CViSB - 5U19AI135995、西非新兴传染病研究中心 - WARN-ID - U01AI151812、西非新兴传染病中心：U01AI151801。
