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The study aims at exploring effective and sustainable rodent controll interventions in the Mano River Region.

Specific objectives include:

  1. Estimate the human Lassa Seroprevelence by age and sex in six villages in the Bo District.
  1. Explore whether rodent elimination is promising, feasible and acceptable in the study sites.
  1. Examine the phylogeny of Lassa Virus in a transect from Freetown in Sierra Leone to Farannah in Guinea to enhance our understanding of Lassa Virus migration.
  1. To study air-borne transmission of Lassa Virus in houses.
  1. To evaluate the impact of the Ebola outbreak on people’s perception on Public Health interventions and zoonotic disease risks, and people’s relationship with rodents

Characterizing HIV Drug Resistance and co-infections in Sierra Leone:  In collaboration with Case Western Reserve University in the United States of America.

  1. Perform a cross-sectional survey to assess the seroepidemiology and clinical features of HBV, HCV, HTLV and syphilis co-infection among HIV-infected sub groups in Sierra Leone.
  1. Characterize the modular epidemiology of HBV infection including HBV genotypes  and mutations associated with drug resistance and vaccine escape mutants among HIV / HBV co infected patients in Sierra Leone.