An exploration of the protective effect of rodent species richness on the geographical expansion of Lassa fever in West Africa.

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Kyung-Duk Min, Jusun Hwang, Maria Cristina Schneider, Yeonghwa So, Ju-Yeun Lee, Sung-Il Cho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic; Human health
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009108; https://doaj.org/article/acf27d3ad9174b56ab298ca2562f773a

Background Lassa fever (LF) is one of the most devastating rodent-borne diseases in West Africa, causing thousands of deaths annually. The geographical expansion of LF is also a concern; cases were recently identified in Ghana and Benin. Previous ecological studies have suggested that high natural-host biodiversity reduces the likelihood of spillover transmission of rodent-borne diseases, by suppressing the activities of reservoir species. However, the association of biodiversity with the geographical expansion of LF has not been the subject of epidemiological studies. Methodology/principal findings We conducted a spatial analysis based on sociodemographic, geographical, and ecological data, and found that higher rodent species richness was significantly associated with a lower risk of LF emergence in West Africa from 2008 to 2017 (Odds Ratio = 0.852, 95% Credible Interval = 0.745-0.971). Conclusions/significance The results reinforce the importance of the 'One Health' approach by demonstrating that a high level of biodiversity could benefit human health.