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Displaying 1 - 10 of 13 results.

Evaluation of rodent control to fight Lassa fever based on field data and mathematical modelling

This resource aims to to assess the efficacy of rodent control by performing a 4-year field experiment in rural Upper Guinea, and developing a mathematical model to simulate different control strategies (annual density control, continuous density control, and rodent vaccination).

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Lassa Fever: a rodent-human interaction

This resource examines the sites of interactions between humans and the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis. It presents findings such as new arenaviruses in other African rodents and in snakes, that  argue preferably toward the host-switching concept. The recent emergence in Sierra Leone, the absence of virus positive Mastomys between the two endemic zones and poor virus diversity in the Mano River area also point in the direction of a unique import of Lassa virus from Nigeria to Sierra Leone during the 19th century. This resource also discusses the hypothesis of human displacements through the Atlantic slave trade and its abolition in 1807.

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Diversity and dynamics in a community of small mammals in coastal Guinea, West Africa

This resource investigated three villages in high endemic zones of Lassa fever in Guinea and presents the biodeiversity of the small mammal community identified through standardized trapping in houses, cultivations and forest.

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Case-control study of Mastomys natalensis and humans in Lassa virus-infected households in Sierra Leone

This resource studied Lassa virus infection and antibodies in households where Lassa fever cases occurred and compared these to those in the nearest neighbour houses and "far" houses located across the village. It reports on rodent infection and human anti-body prevalence. 

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Housing equity for health equity: A rights-based approach to the control of Lassa fever in post-war Sierra Leone

This resource focuses on Lassa fever as a matter of human rights, proposing a strategy to improve housing quality, and discusses how housing equity has the potential to improve health equity and ultimately economic productivity in Sierra Leone. The paper is designed to spur discussion and action towards the provision of housing as part of efforts to prevent disease.

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At home with Mastomys and Rattus: Human-rodent interactions and potential for primary transmission of Lassa virus in domestic spaces

In this study housing characteristics and domestic organization were fund to have an impact on the direct and indirect, intentional and unintentional contact with rodents indoors. More research on housing and environmental modification, as well as food storage are important for prevention against LASV transmission.

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Rodent control to fight Lassa fever: Evaluation and lessons learned from a 4-year study in Upper Guinea

This paper performed a 4 year intervention based on chemical rodent control, utilizing anticoagulant rodenticides in 3 villages and evaluating the rodent abundance before and after treatment. They found that chemical treatment provides an effective tool to control local rodent populations. Based on these findings and the acceptability of rodent control activities at community level, the authors aim to promote, in coordination with health and agricultural authorities, a more holistic approach, including rodent trapping and poisoning, environmental hygiene, personal hygiene, house repairs and rodent-proof storage.

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Poor housing quality increases risk of rodent infestation and Lassa fever in refugee camps of Sierra Leone

To determine risk of Lassa fever in households in Sierra Leonean refugee camps, this paper analysed the spatial relationships between households with a Lassa case and focal locations of potential rodent habitats. Quality and hygiene factors of households were assessed to determine possible risk factors for household rodent infestation and occurrence of Lassa fever.

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Fluctuation of abundance and Lassa virus prevalence in Mastomys Natalensis in Guinea, West Africa

This study investigates the link between the ecology of the M. Natalensis and the incidence of Lassa fever in human cases in Guinea. They found that the risk for Lassa virus transmission was present in both rainy and dry season; however the risk increased in the dry season because of the possibility of encountering rodent excreta in the houses.

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Movement patterns of small rodents in Lassa fever-endemic villages in Guinea

The authors investigate in this study the spatial behaviour of M. Natalensis in Upper Guinea. They use to experiments: capture-mark-recapture studies and Rhodamine B. Their findings showed that M.Natalensis moves between houses and proximate fields. This is an important information for rodent control activities that need to be extended from indoors to fields.

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