Menu

Resources

Displaying 1 - 10 of 12 results.

Lassa fever in post-conflict Sierra Leone

This resource presents observations of case fatality rates of Lassa fever in Sierra Leone after the civil war and compared to studies completed prior to the conflict. Peak presentation of Lassa fever cases occurs in the dry season, which is consistent with previous studies. This paper's studies also confirmed reports conducted prior to the civil war that indicate that infants, children, young adults, and pregnant women are disproportionately impacted by Lassa fever.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

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.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

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.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

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.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

Lassa fever: The politics of an emerging disease and the scope for One Health

As a rodent borne virus, Lassa fever is of particular interest from a One Health perspective. The interplay between security, public health and One Health approaches are explored through ethnographic and interview based research in Kenema, Sierra Leone, a long-term treatment and research hub. ‘Biodefence dollars’ have provided the majority of recent funding in Sierra Leone and have created opportunities for both local and international actors to address a neglected disease.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

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.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

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.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

Culture and politics: The anthropology of an emerging disease

This book explores how indigenous people cope with the Ebola virus, addresses political, structural, psychological, and cultural factors, along with conventional intervention protocols as problematic to achieving medical objectives. It also aims to shed new light on a continuing debate about the motivation for human behavior by showing how local responses to epidemics are rooted both in culture and in human nature.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

Emerging disease or emerging diagnosis?: Lassa fever and Ebola in Sierra Leone

This article looks beyond Ebola in 2014 to the history of efforts to control VHFs in the Mano River and challenges the idea that there was a vacuum of knowledge. Highlighted instead are politics of knowledge which have run through global health and which have prioritized particular forms of knowledge and ways of dealing with disease. Ethnographic research on the emergence of Lassa and the subsequent emergence of Ebola in West Africa is presented, focusing on the development of technologies and institutions to detect and manage both viruses.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.

Governing epidemics in an age of complexity: Narratives, politics and pathways to sustainability, global environmental change

This paper elaborates a ‘pathways approach’ to addressing the governance challenges posed by the dynamics of complex, coupled, multi-scale systems, while incorporating explicit concern for equity, social justice and the well-being of poor and marginalised groups.

Read more
Learn more about this resource.
Subscribe to Resources