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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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Forecasting rodent outbreaks in Africa: an ecological basis for Mastomys control in Tanzania

This study collected rainfall data preceding historical outbreaks of Mastomys rats in East Africa in order to test the hypothesis that such outbreaks occur after long dry periods. It found that rodent outbreaks were generally not preceded by long dry period and the population dynamics of Mastomys natalensis rats in Tanzania are significantly affected by the distribution of rainfall during the rainy season.

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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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Housing factors and transmission of Lassa fever in a rural area of South-South Nigeria

The study compared the housing quality and hygiene in two peri-urban settlements in Irrua Town. The use of buildings for housing and commercial activities was found to be a risk for the transmission of Lassa fever in the houses.

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Social consequences of Ebola containment measures in Liberia

This study of quarantine during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia also shows that state-enforced quarantine, with a mandatory prohibition of movement, raised condemnation, strengthened stigmatization and created serious socio-economic distress.

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Burials in times of Ebola: Do's and don'ts - issues of acceptability

This short guide was elaborated by the authors at the beginning of the Ebola Virus disease outbreak in May 2014 in Gueckedou base on a fieldwork in the area. It compiles the wishes collected from villages where people died from Ebola virus diseases.

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Improving burial practices and cemetery management during an Ebola virus disease epidemic — Sierra Leone, 2014

This piece is a summary of an assessment conducted in Sierra Leone on the acceptability of safe, nontraditional burial practices and cemetery management during the Ebola Outbreak. Both measures aimed the control of the virus transmission. Some of the findings were: scarce burial teams, miscoordination among Ebola response bodies, lack of systematic procedures for testing and reporting results on dead bodies from Laboratories, inadequate cementerie space, no acceptance of safe burial practices by communities. These finding informed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for safe, dignified medical burials.

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