The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a $6.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the Lassa fever virus.
Like Ebola, Lassa fever is a highly infectious disease that’s found in West Africa. In its early stages, it can be mistaken for malaria or the flu.
But unlike Ebola, Lassa fever is spread by rats, and can be transmitted to humans by inhaling infected dust particles. Each year, it infects nearly half a million people, and causes about 5,000 deaths.
Scripps Research Institute Virologist Michael Oldstone said his team will use the grant to find out how Lassa kills people.
“We’re going to look how the immune system reacts, and map out the immune system, which hasn’t really been done," Oldstone said. "We’re also going to look into the genetics of those people who survive, and those people who don’t survive.”
Only eight cases of Lassa fever, all travel-related, have ever been recorded in the U.S.
