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Bangura U, Davis C, Lamin J, Bangura J, Soropogui B, Davison AJ, Nichols J, Vucak M, Dawson M, Ansumana R, Sondufu D, Cadar D, Rieger T, Thomson E, Sahr F, Magassouba N, Ghersi B, Bird BH, Fichet-Calvet E. Spatio-temporal spread of Lassa virus and a new rodent host in the Mano River Union area, West Africa. Emerg Microbes Infect 2024; 13:2290834. [PMID: 38047354 PMCID: PMC10919312 DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2290834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
The spread of Lassa virus (LASV) in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which together are named the Mano River Union (MRU) area, was examined phylogeographically. To provide a reliable evolutionary scenario, new rodent-derived, whole LASV sequences were included. These were generated by metatranscriptomic next-generation sequencing from rodents sampled between 2003 and 2020 in 21 localities of Guinea and Sierra Leone. An analysis was performed using BEAST to perform continuous phylogeographic inference and EvoLaps v36 to visualize spatio-temporal spread. LASV was identified as expected in its primary host reservoir, the Natal multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis), and also in two Guinean multimammate mice (Mastomys erythroleucus) in northern Sierra Leone and two rusty-bellied brush-furred mice (Lophuromys sikapusi) in southern Sierra Leone. This finding is consistent with the latter two species being secondary host reservoirs. The strains in these three species were very closely related in LASV lineage IV. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the most recent common ancestor of lineage IV existed 316-374 years ago and revealed distinct, well-supported clades from Sierra Leone (Bo, Kabala and Kenema), Guinea (Faranah, Kissidougou-Guekedou and Macenta) and Liberia (Phebe-Ganta). The phylogeographic scenario suggests southern Guinea as the point of origin of LASV in the MRU area, with subsequent spread to towards Mali, Liberia and Sierra Leone at a mean speed of 1.6 to 1.1 km/year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umaru Bangura
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Joyce Lamin
- Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone
| | - James Bangura
- University of Makeni and University of California, Davis One Health Program, Makeni, Sierra Leone
| | - Barré Soropogui
- Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques en Guinée, Conakry, Guinea
| | | | - Jenna Nichols
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Matej Vucak
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | | | | | | | - Dániel Cadar
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Toni Rieger
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Emma Thomson
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
| | - Foday Sahr
- College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
| | | | - Bruno Ghersi
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Brian H. Bird
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Hemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research, Hamburg, Germany
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Eskew EA, Bird BH, Ghersi BM, Bangura J, Basinski AJ, Amara E, Bah MA, Kanu MC, Kanu OT, Lavalie EG, Lungay V, Robert W, Vandi MA, Fichet-Calvet E, Nuismer SL. Reservoir displacement by an invasive rodent reduces Lassa virus zoonotic spillover risk. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3589. [PMID: 38678025 PMCID: PMC11055883 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47991-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024] Open
Abstract
The black rat (Rattus rattus) is a globally invasive species that has been widely introduced across Africa. Within its invasive range in West Africa, R. rattus may compete with the native rodent Mastomys natalensis, the primary reservoir host of Lassa virus, a zoonotic pathogen that kills thousands annually. Here, we use rodent trapping data from Sierra Leone and Guinea to show that R. rattus presence reduces M. natalensis density within the human dwellings where Lassa virus exposure is most likely to occur. Further, we integrate infection data from M. natalensis to demonstrate that Lassa virus zoonotic spillover risk is lower at sites with R. rattus. While non-native species can have numerous negative effects on ecosystems, our results suggest that R. rattus invasion has the indirect benefit of decreasing zoonotic spillover of an endemic pathogen, with important implications for invasive species control across West Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan A Eskew
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.
| | - Brian H Bird
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Bruno M Ghersi
- One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA, USA
| | | | - Andrew J Basinski
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
| | | | - Mohamed A Bah
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Freetown, Sierra Leone
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Scott L Nuismer
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.
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Olayemi A, Schmid DW, Fleischer R, Wilhelm K, Heni AC, Mueller-Klein N, Haikukutu L, Fichet-Calvet E, Günther S, Sommer S. MHC-I alleles mediate clearance and antibody response to the zoonotic Lassa virus in Mastomys rodent reservoirs. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2024; 18:e0011984. [PMID: 38421939 PMCID: PMC10903922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
West African Mastomys rodents are the primary reservoir of the zoonotic Lassa virus (LASV). The virus causes haemorrhagic Lassa fever and considerable mortality in humans. To date, the role of Mastomys immunogenetics in resistance to, and persistence of, LASV infections is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of Major Histocompatibility Complex class I (MHC-I) on LASV infection status (i.e., active vs. cleared infection, determined via PCR and an immunofluorescence assay on IgG antibodies, respectively) in Mastomys natalensis and M. erythroleucus sampled within southwestern Nigeria. We identified more than 190 and 90 MHC-I alleles by Illumina high throughput-sequencing in M. natalensis and M. erythroleucus, respectively, with different MHC allele compositions and frequencies between LASV endemic and non-endemic sites. In M. natalensis, the MHC allele ManaMHC-I*006 was negatively associated with active infections (PCR-positive) and positively associated with cleared infections (IgG-positive) simultaneously, suggesting efficient immune responses that facilitate LASV clearance in animals carrying this allele. Contrarily, alleles ManaMHC-I*008 and ManaMHC-I*021 in M. natalensis, and MaerMHC-I*008 in M. erythroleucus, were positively associated with active infection, implying susceptibility. Alleles associated with susceptibility shared a glutamic acid at the positively selected codon 57, while ManaMHC-I*006 featured an arginine. There was no link between number of MHC alleles per Mastomys individual and LASV prevalence. Thus, specific alleles, but not MHC diversity per se, seem to mediate antibody responses to viremia. We conclude that co-evolution with LASV likely shaped the MHC-I diversity of the main LASV reservoirs in southwestern Nigeria, and that information on reservoir immunogenetics may hold insights into transmission dynamics and zoonotic spillover risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayodeji Olayemi
- Natural History Museum, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria
| | - Dominik Werner Schmid
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Ramona Fleischer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Kerstin Wilhelm
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Nadine Mueller-Klein
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Lavinia Haikukutu
- Department of Wildlife Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
| | - Elisabeth Fichet-Calvet
- Department of Zoonoses Control, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Stephan Günther
- Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Simone Sommer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
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Alvarez De Lauro AE, Pelaez MA, Marquez AB, Wagner MS, Scolaro LA, García CC, Damonte EB, Sepúlveda CS. Effects of the Natural Flavonoid Quercetin on Arenavirus Junín Infection. Viruses 2023; 15:1741. [PMID: 37632083 PMCID: PMC10459926 DOI: 10.3390/v15081741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
There is no specific chemotherapy approved for the treatment of pathogenic arenaviruses that cause severe hemorrhagic fever (HF) in the population of endemic regions in America and Africa. The present study reports the effects of the natural flavonoid quercetin (QUER) on the infection of A549 and Vero cells with Junín virus (JUNV), agent of the Argentine HF. By infectivity assays, a very effective dose-dependent reduction of JUNV multiplication was shown by cell pretreatment at 2-6 h prior to the infection at non-cytotoxic concentrations, with 50% effective concentration values in the range of 6.1-7.5 µg/mL. QUER was also active by post-infection treatment but with minor efficacy. Mechanistic studies indicated that QUER mainly affected the early steps of virus adsorption and internalization in the multiplication cycle of JUNV. Treatment with QUER blocked the phosphorylation of Akt without changes in the total protein expression, detected by Western blot, and the consequent perturbation of the PI3K/Akt pathway was also associated with the fluorescence redistribution from membrane to cytoplasm of TfR1, the cell receptor recognized by JUNV. Then, it appears that the cellular antiviral state, induced by QUER treatment, leads to the prevention of JUNV entry into the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Elsa Beatriz Damonte
- Laboratory of Antiviral Strategies, Biochemistry Department, School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, IQUIBICEN, University of Buenos Aires/Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
| | - Claudia Soledad Sepúlveda
- Laboratory of Antiviral Strategies, Biochemistry Department, School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, IQUIBICEN, University of Buenos Aires/Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires 1428, Argentina
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