Lassa fever is a unique viral hemorrhagic fever that is endemic in parts of West Africa, primarily Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria. The disease is caused by the Lassa virus, an Old World arenavirus that has as primary reservoir host the multimammate rodent Mastomys nataliensis, which lives in association with humans. Recent estimates suggest LF causes two million cases and 5000–10 000 deaths annually, mainly in West Africa.

Clinical diagnosis and laboratory confirmation have always been major challenges for effective management and control of the disease in afflicted areas of West Africa. Recent advancements in molecular biology, recombinant DNA technology, and genomics sequencing has facilitated major advancement in development of better diagnostic and surveillance tools for Lassa fever virus. These include, the multiplex, magnetic bead-based immunodiagnostics for both Lassa virus antigens and antibodies; molecular probe-based quantitative real-time PCR for genomic signatures; rapid diagnostics tests that detects the most prevalent West African lineages; and the successful utilization of next-generation sequencing technology to diagnose and characterize Lassa virus in West Africa. These advances will continue to improve disease treatment, control, and prevention.

In this review we will discuss progression of Lassa virus diagnostics from the past and into the future.

拉萨热是一种独特的病毒性出血热，在西非部分地区（主要是塞拉利昂，几内亚，利比里亚和尼日利亚）流行。该疾病是由拉沙病毒引起的，拉沙病毒是一种旧世界的舞台病毒，主要宿主是与人类生活在一起的大型哺乳动物啮齿动物纳氏乳杆菌。最近的估计表明，LF每年造成200万例病例，并造成5000-1万例死亡，主要发生在西非。

在西非受灾地区，临床诊断和实验室确认一直是有效控制和控制该疾病的主要挑战。分子生物学，重组DNA技术和基因组测序的最新进展促进了对Lassa发烧病毒更好的诊断和监测工具开发的重大进展。这些包括针对Lassa病毒抗原和抗体的多重，基于磁珠的免疫诊断；基于分子探针的定量实时PCR技术进行基因组签名 快速诊断测试，可检测出最流行的西非血统；以及成功利用下一代测序技术来诊断和鉴定西非的拉萨病毒。这些进步将继续改善疾病的治疗，控制和预防。

在这篇综述中，我们将讨论拉萨病毒诊断从过去到未来的进展。