Lassa Virus News and Research

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Lassa virus or Lassa viral haemorrhagic fever is an acute illness of 1-4 weeks duration that occurs in West Africa. Though first described in the 1950s, the virus causing the disease was not identified until 1969. The virus is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the virus family Arenaviridae. Lassa fever is known to be endemic in Guinea (Conakry), Liberia, Sierra Leone and parts of Nigeria, but probably exists in other West African countries as well.

Investigational antiviral drug effectively treats Lassa virus infection in guinea pigs

Favipiravir, an investigational antiviral drug currently being tested in West Africa as a treatment for Ebola virus disease, effectively treated Lassa virus infection in guinea pigs, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists and colleagues.

13 Oct 2015

Antiviral agent protects rhesus monkeys from deadly Ebola virus

Rhesus monkeys were completely protected from the deadly Ebola virus when treated three days after infection with a compound that blocks the virus's ability to replicate. These encouraging preclinical results suggest the compound, known as GS-5734, should be further developed as a potential treatment, according to research findings to be presented tomorrow at the IDWeek conference.

12 Oct 2015

Researchers develop new genomic data set on Lassa virus

An international team of researchers has developed the largest genomic data set in the world on Lassa virus (LASV).

14 Aug 2015

TSRI study reveals ancient roots of Lassa virus and how it has changed over time

Working as part of an international team in North America and West Africa, a researcher at The Scripps Research Institute has published new findings showing the ancient roots of the deadly Lassa virus, a relative of Ebola virus, and how Lassa virus has changed over time.

14 Aug 2015

Increase in Lassa fever cases could be due to human-to-human transmission, research reveals

One in five cases of Lassa fever - a disease that kills around 5,000 people a year in West Africa - could be due to human-to-human transmission, with a large proportion of these cases caused by 'super-spreaders', according to research published today in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

16 Jan 2015

New method could make Ebola surveillance quicker, cheaper for West African nations

A new method for examining the Ebola virus genome could make surveillance quicker and cheaper for West African nations, and help detect new forms of the virus. The detailed procedure is being shared with the research community along with the study paper, which is freely available in the open access journal Genome Biology.

19 Nov 2014

New study finds that it is possible to distinguish between different hemorrhagic fevers

A new study has found it is possible to distinguish between different hemorrhagic fevers, including Marburg (Ebola cousin) and Lassa before the person becomes symptomatic.

11 Nov 2014

Lassa virus uses two-step process to invade cells, shows study

Scientists have discovered that the Lassa virus, which is endemic to West Africa, uses an unexpected two-step process to enter cells.

28 Jun 2014

Interferon Type I immune proteins key drivers of human hemorrhagic fevers

Hemorrhagic fevers caused by Lassa, dengue and other viruses affect more than one million people annually and are often fatal, yet scientists have never understood why only some virus-infected people come down with the disease and others do not.

5 Jun 2014

Neuroscientist, researchers receive Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to name Thomas M. Jessell as the winner of the 2014 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science. Awarded annually, the Vilcek Prizes honor the contributions of immigrants to the American arts and sciences, and include $100,000 cash awards.

30 Jan 2014

Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses must be designated as emerging diagnoses

The Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses are commonly referred to as emerging diseases, but leading scientists say these life-threatening viruses have been around for centuries.

15 Nov 2012

Bas-Congo virus associated with acute hemorrhagic fever in Africa

An isolated outbreak of a deadly disease known as acute hemorrhagic fever, which killed two people and left one gravely ill in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the summer of 2009, was probably caused by a novel virus scientists have never seen before.

28 Sep 2012

Scientists solve structure of key protein from Lassa virus

Scientists at Emory University and the University of St. Andrews have solved the structure of a key protein from Lassa virus, which is endemic to West Africa and can cause a deadly hemorrhagic fever.

18 Nov 2010

NIH awards Corgenix Medical $600,000 grant to develop diagnostic tests for Ebola and Marburg virus

Corgenix Medical Corporation, a worldwide developer and marketer of diagnostic test kits, including innovative products for emerging pathogens and lethal viruses, today announced a major extension of the collaborative effort to combat important viral diseases.

15 Apr 2010

NIAID awards Tulane University over $15M to develop Lassa fever vaccine and treatment

The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a five-year contract totaling $15,254,919 to Tulane University for its ongoing efforts to treat and prevent Lassa fever, an often deadly viral disease that threatens hundreds of thousands of people annually in West Africa and is classified as a potential bioterrorism threat.

10 Feb 2010

NIH awards over $15M for Tulane University's collaborative effort to combat VHF

Corgenix Medical Corporation, a worldwide developer and marketer of diagnostic test kits, and Tulane University, today announced a major extension of the collaborative effort to combat viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), an effort that will generate an additional $800,000 in contract revenue for Corgenix over the life of the contract.

9 Feb 2010

Discovery of new arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever – first identified in nearly four decades

Scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases of National Health Laboratory Service (NICD-NHLS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Roche's 454 Life Sciences Corporation have discovered the new virus responsible for a highly fatal hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Zambia and South Africa in late 2008.

2 Jun 2009

Lassa Virus News and Research

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