Hunting of peridomestic rodents and consumption of their meat as possible risk factors for rodent-to-human transmission of Lassa virus in the Republic of Guinea.
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| Abstract |
In this population-based study, we correlated possible risk factors for rodent-to-human transmission of Lassa virus with markers of Lassa fever in two different regions of the Republic of Guinea (Prefectures of Pita and Gueckedou). Antibody prevalence was 2.6% (6 of 232) in Pita compared with 14.0% (105 of 751) in Gueckedou, with up to 35.0% seropositivity in selected villages of the higher prevalence area. We observed three major risk factors in Gueckedou favoring Lassa virus transmission: rodent infestation was much higher, food was more often stored uncovered and most strikingly, peridomestic rodents were hunted as a protein source by 91.5% of the population as opposed to 0% in Pita. To control for the confounding effects of differences in rodent infestation and food storage, rodent consumption was analyzed as a risk factor for transmission of Lassa virus comparing rodent consumers (RC) and nonconsumers (NC) in Gueckedou only: 14.6% of RC had Lassa virus antibodies versus 7.4% of NC (P = 0.1) and 23.0% of RC reported a history of a febrile illness with hearing loss (the most common sequel of Lassa fever) versus 6.1% of NC (P = 0.003).
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| Authors | J Ter Meulen, I Lukashevich, K Sidibe, A Inapogui, M Marx, A Dorlemann, M L Yansane, K Koulemou, J Chang-Claude, H Schmitz |
| Journal | The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene (Am J Trop Med Hyg) Vol. 55 Issue 6 Pg. 661-6 (Dec 1996) ISSN: 0002-9637 [Print] United States |
| PMID | 9025695 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't) |
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