Influence of landscape patterns on the exposure of LASV across diverse regions within the Republic of Guinea

Abstract

AbstractLassa fever virus (LASV) is the causative agent of Lassa fever, a disease endemic in West Africa. Exploring the relationships between environmental factors and LASV transmission across ecologically diverse regions can provide crucial information for the design of appropriate interventions and disease monitoring. We measured LASV-specific IgG seropositivity in 1286 sera collected in Coastal and Forested Guinea. Our results showed that exposure to LASV was heterogenous between the sites. The LASV IgG seropositivity was 11.9% (95% CI 9.7-14.5) in Coastal site, while it was 59.6% (95% CI 55.5-63.5) in Forested region. Interestingly, exposure was significantly associated with age, with seropositivity increasing with age in the Coastal site. Finally, we also found significant associations between exposure risk to LASV and landscape fragmentation in Coastal and Forested regions. This study may help to define the regions with an increased exposure risk to LASV where a close surveillance of LASV circulation is needed.