Lassa virus isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast represent an emerging fifth lineage.

Forrester-Soto

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01037

Lassa virus isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast represent an emerging fifth lineage.

Forrester-Soto

Authors

Forrester-Soto

Abstract

Previous imported cases of Lassa fever (LF) into the United Kingdom from the Ivory Coast and Mali, as well as the detection of Lassa virus (LASV) among the Mastomys natalensis population within Mali has led to the suggestion that the endemic area for LF is expanding. Initial phylogenetic analyses arrange isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast separately from the classical lineage IV isolates taken from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. The availability of full genome sequences continues to increase, allowing for a more complete phylogenetic comparison of the isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast to the other existing isolates. In this study, we utilized a Bayesian approach to infer the demographic histories of each LASV isolate for which the full sequence was available. Our results indicate that the isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast group separately from the isolates of lineage IV, comprising a distinct fifth lineage. The split between lineages IV and V is estimated to have occurred around 200-300 years ago, which coincides with the colonial period of West Africa.

Citation

Forrester-Soto. (2015). Lassa virus isolates from Mali and the Ivory Coast represent an emerging fifth lineage. Frontiers in Microbiology, 1037 - 1037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01037

Acceptance Date	Oct 4, 2015
Publication Date	Oct 24, 2015
Journal	Frontiers in Microbiology
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Pages	1037 - 1037
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01037
Keywords	lassa virus, Mali, Ivory Coast, lineage.
Publisher URL	https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01037