title: Research efforts to control highly pathogenic arenaviruses: a summary of the progress and gaps.
abstract: Significant progress has been made in the past 10 years in unraveling the molecular biology of highly pathogenic arenaviruses that are endemic in several West African countries (Lassa fever virus) and in some regions of South America (Argentine and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever viruses). While this has resulted in proof-of-concept studies of novel vaccine candidates in non-human primates and in the discovery of several novel antiviral small molecule drug candidates, none of them has been tested in the clinic to date. The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa has demonstrated very clearly that there is an urgent need to develop the prophylactic and therapeutic armamentarium against viral hemorrhagic fever viruses as part of a global preparedness for future epidemics. As it pertains to this goal, the present article summarizes the current knowledge of highly pathogenic arenaviruses and identifies opportunities for translational research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kerber
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reindl
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular, CCT-La Plata, CONICET-UNLP, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Romanowski
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular, CCT-La Plata, CONICET-UNLP, La Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ogbaini-Emovon
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany. Electronic address: termeulen@mailer.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: ter Meulen
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D018050:Arenavirus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D035843:Biomedical Research; D001838:Bolivia / Q000453:epidemiology; D058872:Epidemics / Q000517:prevention & control; D006482:Hemorrhagic Fevers, Viral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007835:Lassa Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014765:Viral Vaccines
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: Antiviral; Arenavirus; Junin virus; Lassa virus; Vaccine; Viral hemorrhagic fever