title: New Hosts of The Lassa Virus.
abstract: Lassa virus (LASV) causes a deadly haemorrhagic fever in humans, killing several thousand people in West Africa annually. For 40 years, the Natal multimammate rat, Mastomys natalensis, has been assumed to be the sole host of LASV. We found evidence that LASV is also hosted by other rodent species: the African wood mouse Hylomyscus pamfi in Nigeria, and the Guinea multimammate mouse Mastomys erythroleucus in both Nigeria and Guinea. Virus strains from these animals were isolated in the BSL-4 laboratory and fully sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses of viral genes coding for glycoprotein, nucleoprotein, polymerase and matrix protein show that Lassa strains detected in M. erythroleucus belong to lineages III and IV. The strain from H. pamfi clusters close to lineage I (for S gene) and between II &III (for L gene). Discovery of new rodent hosts has implications for LASV evolution and its spread into new areas within West Africa.
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, HO 220005 Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Ayodeji
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olayemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cadar
authors.affiliation: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hospital Donka, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: N'Faly
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magassouba
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, HO 220005 Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Adeoba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Obadare
authors.affiliation: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hospital Donka, Conakry, Guinea.
authors.forename: Fode
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kourouma
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, HO 220005 Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Akinlabi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oyeyiola
authors.affiliation: Ambrose Alli State University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fasogbon
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, HO 220005 Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Igbokwe
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bockholt
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jérôme
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Chanasit
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mutien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garigliany
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lorenzen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Igbahenah
authors.affiliation: Fondation John Bost, 24130 La Force, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Nicolas
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Fichet
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ortsega
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Sunday
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omilabu
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20324, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fichet-Calvet
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D005838:Genotype; D016701:Guinea; D058507:Host Specificity; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D051189:Murinae / Q000821:virology*; D009549:Nigeria; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA