Abstract
BackgroundThe changing epidemiology of the Lassa virus from endemic areas to other parts of West Africa has been reported. However, there have been no documented Lassa fever transmission chains in the Benin Republic. Two outbreaks of Lassa fever (November 2014 and January 2016) in the Benin Republic were characterised by a high number of deaths (more than 50%) among 27 confirmed and other unconfirmed cases.ObjectivesWe report the detection, confirmation and relatedness of the Lassa virus strains from the Benin Republic with other isolates within the West African Sub-region.MethodsA total of 70 blood samples (16 from 2014 and 54 from 2016) from suspected cases with signs and symptoms suggestive of viral haemorrhagic fever were received for molecular analysis at the Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. With the detection of the Lassa virus RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed using the Sanger dideoxy sequencing technology platform and the MEGA6 software.ResultsS segments of the Lassa virus RNA genome were detected in 5 (7.1%) of the 70 samples analysed. Sequencing and a phylogenetic tree construction confirmed that the strain of Lassa virus had close relationships with strains previously isolated from Nigeria.ConclusionWe confirmed the presence of the Lassa virus in the Benin Republic, with 2 strains having molecular epidemiological links with Lineage I and II strains from Nigeria. To reduce the likelihood of outbreaks, there is a need for heightened awareness and strengthened surveillance systems about Lassa fever, particularly in the sub-region.
Highlights
Lassa fever is an acute and often fatal viral haemorrhagic disease caused by an arenavirus called Lassa virus (LASV), an enveloped bi-segmented negative-sensed single-stranded RNA virus, endemic in parts of West Africa
Confirmation and phylogenetic relationship of LASV from these outbreaks using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the 5` region of the S segment of the RNA genome and Sanger sequencing of partial fragments of the S segment of the RNA genome
This study confirms the presence of the Lassa virus in the Benin Republic, with 2 isolates having molecular epidemiological links with Lineage-II strains from Nigeria
Summary
Lassa fever is an acute and often fatal viral haemorrhagic disease caused by an arenavirus called Lassa virus (LASV), an enveloped bi-segmented negative-sensed single-stranded RNA virus, endemic in parts of West Africa. Human-to-human transmission of the virus in hospital settings or within the community expands the spread during epidemics.[2,8] global travel, international trading and related commitments are efficient routes of transmission for highly infectious pathogens, those causing Lassa fever and other viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs). By these routes, the movement of infectious agents from endemic countries to new places is a more probable event than has been documented.[9,10,11,12,13]. Two outbreaks of Lassa fever (November 2014 and January 2016) in the Benin Republic were characterised by a high number of deaths (more than 50%) among 27 confirmed and other unconfirmed cases
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