{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T07:49:16Z","timestamp":1793087356313,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The multimammate mouse (<jats:italic>Mastomys natalensis<\/jats:italic>) is the reservoir for Lassa virus (LASV). Zoonotic transmission occurs when humans are directly or indirectly exposed to fluids of the multimammate mouse, such as urine, saliva, and blood. Housing characteristics and domestic organization affect rodent density in and around households and villages, and are likely to be a risk factor for Lassa fever in humans where the reservoir exists. We use semi-structured interviews (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 51), a quantitative survey (<jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic> = 429), direct observations, and a rodent ecology study to provide new insights into how the organization of domestic spaces brings together humans and rodents and creates pathways for infection in rural settlements in Bo District, Sierra Leone. Rodents were frequently reported inside houses (92.4% of respondents), in which we predominantly trapped <jats:italic>M. natalensis<\/jats:italic> (57% of trapped rodents) and <jats:italic>Rattus rattus<\/jats:italic> (38% of trapped rodents). Building design and materials provide hiding and nesting places for rodents and lead to close proximity with humans. Patterns of contact are both unintentional and intentional and research participants reported high levels of contact with rodents (34.2% of respondents) and rodent fluids (52.8% of respondents). Rodents are also perceived as a serious threat to food security. These results present detailed knowledge about how humans live with and come into contact with rodents, including the LASV reservoir. Our results argue for further collaborative research in housing and environmental modification such as ceiling construction, food storage, and sanitation as prevention against zoonotic LASV transmission.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.16-0675","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,7]],"date-time":"2017-02-07T02:05:25Z","timestamp":1486433125000},"page":"935-943","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":102,"title":["At Home with Mastomys and Rattus: Human-Rodent Interactions and Potential for Primary Transmission of Lassa Virus in Domestic Spaces"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"96","author":[{"given":"Jesse","family":"Bonwitt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Almudena Mari","family":"S\u00e1ez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Lamin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rashid","family":"Ansumana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Dawson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacob","family":"Buanie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joyce","family":"Lamin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"Sondufu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Bo, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Borchert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charit\u00e9-Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Foday","family":"Sahr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisabeth","family":"Fichet-Calvet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Virology, Bernhard-Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"ref1","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e388","article-title":"Risk maps of Lassa fever in West Africa","volume":"3","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref2","series-title":"Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci","first-page":"339","article-title":"Lassa virus","volume":"41","author":"Gunther","year":"2004"},{"key":"ref3","series-title":"Curr Top Microbiol Immunol","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-56029-3_4","article-title":"Lassa fever","volume":"262","author":"McCormick","year":"2002"},{"key":"ref4","series-title":"Sci Rep","first-page":"25280","article-title":"New hosts of the Lassa virus","volume":"6","author":"Olayemi","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref5","series-title":"Emergence and Control of Rodent-borne Viral Diseases","first-page":"177","article-title":"Lassa fever","author":"McCormick","year":"1999"},{"key":"ref6","series-title":"J Vector Borne Dis","first-page":"1","article-title":"Lassa fever in West African sub-region: an overview","volume":"44","author":"Ogbu","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref7","series-title":"Bull World Health Organ","first-page":"523","article-title":"Comparative pathology of Lassa virus infection in moneys, guinea-pigs, and Mastomys natalensis","volume":"52","author":"Walker","year":"1975"},{"key":"ref8","series-title":"J Med Virol","first-page":"295","article-title":"Effect of environmental factors on aerosol-induced Lassa virus infection","volume":"14","author":"Stephenson","year":"1984"},{"key":"ref9","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e3398","article-title":"Using modelling to disentangle the relative contributions of zoonotic and anthroponotic transmission: the case of Lassa fever","volume":"9","author":"Lo Iacono","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref10","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"169","article-title":"Poor housing quality increases risk of rodent infestation and Lassa fever in refugee camps of Sierra Leone","volume":"77","author":"Bonner","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref11","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"661","article-title":"Hunting of peridomestic rodents and consumption of their meat as possible risk factors for rodent-to-human transmission of Lassa virus in the Republic of Guinea","volume":"55","author":"Ter Meulen","year":"1996"},{"key":"ref12","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e548","article-title":"Prevalence and risk factors of Lassa seropositivity in inhabitants of the forest region of Guinea: a cross-sectional study","volume":"3","author":"Kern\u00e9is","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref13","series-title":"EcoHealth","first-page":"234","article-title":"Rat-atouille: a mixed method study to characterize rodent hunting and consumption in the context of Lassa fever","volume":"13","author":"Bonwitt","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref14","series-title":"Lassa Fever Prevention","author":"Center for Disease Control and Prevention","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref15","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e0003651","article-title":"Extending the \u201csocial\u201d: anthropological contributions to the study of viral haemorrhagic fevers","volume":"9","author":"Brown","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref16","series-title":"Emerg Infect Dis","first-page":"1971","article-title":"Mastomys natalensis and Lassa fever, West Africa","volume":"12","author":"Lecompte","year":"2006"},{"key":"ref17","series-title":"Emerg Infect Dis","first-page":"609","article-title":"Sequence variability and geographic distribution of Lassa virus, Sierra Leone","volume":"21","author":"Leski","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref18","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e2582","article-title":"Geographic distribution and genetic characterization of Lassa virus in sub-Saharan Mali","volume":"7","author":"Safronetz","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref19","series-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis","first-page":"119","article-title":"Fluctuation of abundance and Lassa virus prevalence in Mastomys natalensis in Guinea, West Africa","volume":"7","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref20","series-title":"Afr J Ecol","first-page":"600","article-title":"Diversity, dynamics and reproduction in a community of small mammals in Upper Guinea, with emphasis on pygmy mice ecology","volume":"48","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref21","series-title":"Belg J Zool","first-page":"93","article-title":"Diversity and dynamics in a community of small mammals in coastal Guinea, West Africa","volume":"139","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref22","series-title":"Science","first-page":"263","article-title":"Lassa virus isolation from Mastomys natalensis rodents during an epidemic in Sierra Leone","volume":"185","author":"Monath","year":"1974"},{"key":"ref23","series-title":"Bull World Health Organ","first-page":"629","article-title":"The ecology of Praomys (Mastomys) natalensis in southern Africa","volume":"52","author":"Isaacson","year":"1975"},{"key":"ref24","series-title":"General Health and Medical Sciences","first-page":"15","article-title":"Housing factors and transmission of Lassa fever in a rural area of south Nigeria","volume":"1","author":"Ochei","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref25","article-title":"Household predictors of abundance of the Lassa virus reservoir, Mastomys natalensis, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone","author":"Moses","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref26","series-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis","first-page":"283","article-title":"Lassa fever in Guinea: II. Distribution and prevalence of Lassa virus infection in small mammals","volume":"1","author":"Demby","year":"2001"},{"key":"ref27","series-title":"BMC Int Health Hum Rights","first-page":"2","article-title":"Housing equity for health equity: a rights-based approach to the control of Lassa fever in post-war Sierra Leone","volume":"13","author":"Kelly","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref28","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"829","article-title":"Case-control study of Mastomy natalensis and humans in Lassa virus-infected households in Sierra Leone","volume":"32","author":"Keenlyside","year":"1983"},{"key":"ref29","series-title":"Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"764","article-title":"Endemic Lassa fever in Liberia. VI. Village serological surveys for evidence of Lassa virus activity in Lofa County, Liberia","volume":"78","author":"Yalley-Ogunro","year":"1984"},{"key":"ref30","series-title":"Population and Housing Census of Sierra Leone","article-title":"Population profile of Bo district and Bo town 2004 Census Publication Series: Number 4","author":"Sierra Leone Statistics","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref31","series-title":"Population and Housing Census of Sierra Leone","article-title":"Population profile of Sierra Leone 2004 Census Publication Series: Number 4","author":"Sierra Leone Statistics","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref32","series-title":"Module 7: The EPI coverage survey. Training for mid-level managers (MLM)\u2014WHO\/IVB\/08.07","author":"WHO","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref33","series-title":"J Mammal","first-page":"716","article-title":"Guidelines for working with rodents potentially infected with hantavirus","volume":"76","author":"Mills","year":"1995"},{"key":"ref34","series-title":"The Role of Animals in Emerging Viral Diseases","first-page":"89","article-title":"Lassa fever: a rodent-human interaction","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref35","series-title":"Biochem Syst Ecol","first-page":"681","article-title":"Molecular identification of four cryptic species of Mastomys (Rodentia, Murinae)","volume":"33","author":"Lecompte","year":"2005"},{"key":"ref36","series-title":"Lassa Fever KAP survey\u2014\u2014Report","author":"Merlin","year":"2002"},{"key":"ref37","series-title":"J Pest Sci","first-page":"231","article-title":"Socioeconomic and environmental risk factors for urban rodent infestation in Sao Paulo, Brazil","volume":"83","author":"Masi","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref38","series-title":"Integr Zool","first-page":"11","article-title":"Factors explaining the abundance of rodents in the city of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, as revealed by field and household surveys","volume":"3","author":"Promkerd","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref39","series-title":"J Infect Dis","first-page":"437","article-title":"A prospective study of the epidemiology and ecology of Lassa fever","volume":"155","author":"McCormick","year":"1987"},{"key":"ref40","series-title":"Arch Virol","first-page":"489","article-title":"Sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation of Lassa, vaccinia, and Ebola viruses dried on surfaces","volume":"156","author":"Sagripanti","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref41","series-title":"Bull World Health Organ","first-page":"577","article-title":"Lassa fever: review of epidemiology and epizootiology","volume":"52","author":"Monath","year":"1975"},{"key":"ref42","series-title":"Sci Rep","first-page":"10445","article-title":"Shedding dynamics of Morogoro virus, an African arenavirus closely related to Lassa virus, in its natural reservoir host Mastomys natalensis","volume":"5","author":"Borremans","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref43","series-title":"J Mammal","first-page":"589","article-title":"Home range and movements of roof rats (Rattus rattus) in an old-growth Riparian forest, California","volume":"88","author":"Whisson","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref44","series-title":"NZ J Zool","first-page":"285","article-title":"Tree-climbing capabilities of Norway and ship rats","volume":"38","author":"Foster","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref45","series-title":"Urban Ecosyst","first-page":"149","article-title":"The secret life of the city rat: a review of the ecology of urban Norway and black rats (Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus)","volume":"17","author":"Feng","year":"2013"},{"issue":"(Suppl)","key":"ref46","series-title":"Belg J Zool","first-page":"63","article-title":"Spatial distribution of commensal rodents in regions with high and low Lassa fever prevalence in Guinea","volume":"135","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2005"},{"key":"ref47","series-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis","first-page":"41","article-title":"Reproductive characteristics of Mastomys natalensis and Lassa virus prevalence in Guinea, West Africa","volume":"8","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref48","series-title":"Belg J Zool","first-page":"71","article-title":"The burden of rodent-borne diseases in Africa south of the Sahara","volume":"127","author":"Gratz","year":"1997"},{"key":"ref49","series-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci USA","first-page":"7039","article-title":"Rodent reservoirs of future zoonotic diseases","volume":"112","author":"Han","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref50","series-title":"Nature","first-page":"279","article-title":"Origins of major human infectious diseases","volume":"447","author":"Wolfe","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref51","series-title":"Int J Pest Manage","first-page":"259","article-title":"Evidence that rodent control strategies ought to be improved to enhance food security and reduce the risk of rodent-borne illnesses within subsistence farming villages in the plague-endemic West Nile region, Uganda","volume":"59","author":"Eisen","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref52","series-title":"Conserv Biol","first-page":"315","article-title":"Unintentional wildlife poisoning and proposals for sustainable management of rodents","volume":"28","author":"Coeurdassier","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref53","series-title":"Int J Pest Manage","first-page":"69","article-title":"Farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices for rodent management in Myanmar","volume":"54","author":"Brown","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref54","series-title":"World Development Indicators: Sierra Leone","author":"World Bank","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref55","series-title":"Sci Rep","first-page":"21977","article-title":"Spatial and temporal evolution of Lassa virus in the natural host population in Upper Guinea","volume":"6","author":"Fichet-Calvet","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref56","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"359","article-title":"Experimental evaluation of rodent exclusion methods to reduce hantavirus transmission to humans in rural housing","volume":"56","author":"Glass","year":"1997"},{"key":"ref57","series-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis","first-page":"61","article-title":"Experimental evaluation of rodent exclusion methods to reduce hantavirus transmission to residents in a native American Community in New Mexico","volume":"2","author":"Hopkins","year":"2002"}],"container-title":["The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/96\/4\/article-p935.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/downloadpdf\/journals\/tpmd\/96\/4\/article-p935.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/downloadpdf\/journals\/tpmd\/96\/4\/article-p935.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,7]],"date-time":"2024-08-07T22:34:24Z","timestamp":1723070064000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/96\/4\/article-p935.xml"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,5]]},"references-count":57,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4269\/ajtmh.16-0675","relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-9637","1476-1645"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0002-9637","type":"print"},{"value":"1476-1645","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,5]]}}}