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Volume 11, Number 10—October 2005
Letter

Lassa Fever, Nigeria, 2003 and 2004

Sunday Aremu Omilabu*, Sikiru Olanrewaju Badaru*, Peter Okokhere†, Danny Asogun†, Christian Drosten‡, Petra Emmerich‡, Beate Becker-Ziaja‡, Herbert Schmitz‡, and Stephan Günther‡Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: *College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria; †Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo, Nigeria; ‡Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany

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Table

Lassa virus–specific findings in 60 serum samples from Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo, Nigeria*

Patient RT-PCR† IgM titer‡ IgG titer‡
Patients with fever (n = 31)
04-10 Positive§ – –
04-02 Positive 1:40 –
04-51 – 1:160 –
04-34 – 1:40 –
04-03 – 1:>20,480 1:20,480
03-05 – 1:320 1:20,480
03-01 – 1:160 1:10,240
04-08 – 1:80 1:20,480
04-33 – 1:20 1:640
04-52 – 1:160 1:40
04-53 – 1:40 1:40
Contact persons (n = 17)
04-04 Positive 1:20 –
03-04 – 1:160 1:>20,480
04-11 – – 1:80
Hospital staff (n = 12)
04-31 – – 1:80
04-32 – – 1:80
04-17 – – 1:80
04-20 – – 1:20

*Data not shown for patients whose samples were negative in all tests. RT-PCR, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Ig, immunoglobulin; –, negative result.
†RT-PCR targeting the Lassa virus glycoprotein gene (4). PCR products were detected in ethidium bromide–stained gel and sequenced (GenBank accession nos. DQ010030 and DQ010031 for 04-02 and 04-10, respectively).
‡Immunofluorescence assay used cells infected with Lassa virus strain Josiah. Findings were confirmed with μ-capture and IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (data not shown).
§Lassa virus was isolated in cell culture (strain Nig04-010), and part of the L gene was sequenced (GenBank accession no. AY693637).

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References
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