ABSTRACT

We report two outbreaks of Lassa fever that occurred in Benin in 2014 and 2016 with 20 confirmed cases and 50% (10/20) mortality. Benin was not previously considered to be an endemic country for Lassa fever, resulting in a delay to diagnose the disease and its human transmission. Molecular investigations showed the viral genomes to be similar to that of the Togo strain, which is genetically very different from other known strains and confirms the existence of a new lineage. Endemic circulation of Lassa virus in a new territory and the genetic diversity thus confirm that this virus represents a growing threat for West African people. Given the divergence of the Benin strain from the prototypic Josiah Sierra Leone strain frequently used to generate vaccine candidates, the efficacy of vaccine candidates should also be demonstrated with this strain.

摘要

我们报告了2014年和2016年在贝宁发生的两次拉萨热暴发，确诊病例20例，死亡率为50％（10/20）。贝宁以前不被认为是拉萨热的地方病，导致诊断该病及其人类传播的延误。分子研究表明，病毒基因组与多哥菌株相似，在遗传上与其他已知菌株非常不同，并证实了新谱系的存在。拉萨病毒在新领土上的流行和遗传多样性因此证实了该病毒对西非人民构成了越来越大的威胁。鉴于贝宁菌株与经常用于产生候选疫苗的原型约瑟亚·塞拉利昂菌株之间存在分歧，因此该菌株也应证明候选疫苗的功效。