title: Sequence variability and geographic distribution of Lassa virus, Sierra Leone.
abstract: Lassa virus (LASV) is endemic to parts of West Africa and causes highly fatal hemorrhagic fever. The multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) is the only known reservoir of LASV. Most human infections result from zoonotic transmission. The very diverse LASV genome has 4 major lineages associated with different geographic locations. We used reverse transcription PCR and resequencing microarrays to detect LASV in 41 of 214 samples from rodents captured at 8 locations in Sierra Leone. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of nucleoprotein (NP), glycoprotein precursor (GPC), and polymerase (L) genes showed 5 separate clades within lineage IV of LASV in this country. The sequence diversity was higher than previously observed; mean diversity was 7.01% for nucleoprotein gene at the nucleotide level. These results may have major implications for designing diagnostic tests and therapeutic agents for LASV infections in Sierra Leone.
authors: Tomasz A
authors: TA
authors: Leski
authors: Michael G
authors: MG
authors: Stockelman
authors: Lina M
authors: LM
authors: Moses
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Park
authors: David A
authors: DA
authors: Stenger
authors: Rashid
authors: R
authors: Ansumana
authors: Daniel G
authors: DG
authors: Bausch
authors: Baochuan
authors: B
authors: Lin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D007835:Lassa Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D051381:Rats; D012807:Sierra Leone / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Lassa virus; Mastomys natalensis; Sierra Leone; multimammate rats; sequence diversity; viruses; zoonoses