Publications by authors named "Olusola Ogunsanya"
The ongoing outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Rwanda marks the third largest historically, although it has shown the lowest fatality rate. Genomic analysis of samples from 18 cases identified a lineage with limited internal diversity, closely related to a 2014 Ugandan case. Our findings suggest that the Rwandan lineage diverged decades ago from a common ancestor shared with diversity sampled from bats in Uganda.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Nigeria reported its first mpox cases in nearly 40 years five years before the 2022-2023 outbreak, with ongoing human-to-human transmission driving the epidemic.
- Researchers analyzed 112 mpox virus genomes from Nigeria (2021-2023) and traced the lineage back to its emergence around July 2014 from southern Nigeria, specifically Rivers State.
- The study also found that human-to-human transmission significantly increased the virus's evolutionary rate and emphasized the importance of better pathogen surveillance and response strategies.
Article Synopsis
- Nigeria and Cameroon reported their first mpox cases in over 30 years starting in 2017 and 2018, with Nigeria's outbreak recognized as a human epidemic.
- The study focused on understanding the zoonotic transmission dynamics of the mpox virus across the Nigeria-Cameroon border, revealing ongoing cases driven by a new Clade IIb.1 lineage and highlighting significant cross-border viral spread.
- The findings indicate that southern Nigeria is likely the origin of the mpox epidemic, with evidence of a zoonotic precursor lineage present in local animal populations for over 45 years, emphasizing the persistent risk of MPXV emergence in both countries.
Article Synopsis
- Identifying various animal hosts involved in spill-over events of infectious diseases is essential for understanding how viruses like Lassa virus (LASV) are transmitted to humans and pose public health risks.
- Researchers conducted a study in southern Nigeria, screening domestic and non-domestic animals, including birds and lizards, to assess their potential as LASV reservoirs.
- Results showed lizards had the highest positivity rates for LASV, while cattle showed significant seropositivity, pointing to the need for further analysis of these animal hosts to inform strategies for managing Lassa fever transmission.
Article Synopsis
- A study was conducted in Nigeria to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in animals, highlighting a gap in knowledge regarding reverse zoonosis in Africa, unlike in Western countries.
- Out of 791 animals screened, the positivity rates were 45.9% for RT-qPCR and 1.4% for IgG ELISA, with the virus detected across various species except in Oyo State.
- The study found higher infectivity rates in 2021 compared to 2022, marking the first report of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in poultry, pigs, domestic ruminants, and lizards, indicating significant human-animal interaction and the need for ongoing monitoring.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on the emergence and dissemination patterns of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants in Nigeria and Africa, highlighting their significance for public health policies during a pandemic.
- By combining genomic and travel data, the research indicates that both variants originated from within Africa, with B.1.525 emerging specifically in Nigeria before spreading globally.
- The findings emphasize the importance of understanding regional connectivity and bidirectional transmission in Africa, revealing that the risks of virus importation between countries have been underestimated.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the immune responses in Lassa fever (LF) survivors and their contacts in Nigeria to understand natural protection and inform vaccine development.
- It finds that while both groups show similar T cell and antibody responses, neutralizing antibodies are predominantly present in LF survivors and provide cross-reactivity against various LASV strains.
- The research also highlights that immune responses diminish over time, suggesting potential vaccine targets in specific areas of the LASV Glycoprotein and Nucleoprotein for future clinical trials.
Article Synopsis
- A lot of money has been spent on studying the COVID-19 virus in Africa, leading to over 100,000 virus samples being analyzed to understand the spread of the disease.
- *More countries in Africa are now able to do these studies themselves, which helps them get results faster and keep a close watch on the virus.
- *To keep fighting COVID and other diseases, more funding and support for testing and research in Africa is really important for the future.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers trapped 942 rodents across Ondo and Ebonyi states, finding a high overall LASV prevalence of 53.6%, with Ondo state showing significantly higher LASV rates and Lassa fever cases compared to Ebonyi State.
- * The study revealed high positivity rates of LASV in various rodent genera, particularly Mastomys in Ondo, and identified key tissues (kidneys, spleen, testes) for LASV detection, suggesting a complex network of transmission that heightens spillover
Next generation sequencing (NGS)-based studies have vastly increased our understanding of viral diversity. Viral sequence data obtained from NGS experiments are a rich source of information, these data can be used to study their epidemiology, evolution, transmission patterns, and can also inform drug and vaccine design. Viral genomes, however, represent a great challenge to bioinformatics due to their high mutation rate and forming quasispecies in the same infected host, bringing about the need to implement advanced bioinformatics tools to assemble consensus genomes well-representative of the viral population circulating in individual patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study focuses on the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD) outbreak in domestic rabbits in Ibadan, Nigeria, and involves the first genomic analysis of the lagovirus GI.2 strain in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Researchers used Next Generation Sequencing (mNGS) to analyze liver, spleen, and lung samples from infected rabbits, discovering one complete and two partial genomes of RHDV2, closely related to strains from Europe.
- The results emphasize the importance of genomic surveillance for RHDV2 to track its origins and inform health policies in Nigeria and the surrounding region.
Infectious disease outbreak preparedness and response in Nigeria: history, limitations and recommendations for global health policy and practice.
Testimony J Olumade Oluwafolajimi A Adesanya Iyanuoluwa J Fred-Akintunwa David O Babalola Judith U Oguzie Olusola A Ogunsanya
AIMS Public Health
September 2020
Article Synopsis
- Nigeria's health system has faced significant challenges in responding to disease outbreaks, common in many large African nations, but the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak demonstrated that an effective and proactive response is achievable.
- Between 2016 and 2018, Nigeria reported over 20 public health emergencies, making it one of just five WHO African Region countries to document five or more events each year.
- The review underscores Nigeria's experiences with infectious disease outbreaks, detailing response strategies, successes, and limitations, and offers policy recommendations to enhance future public health emergency responses.
Lassa virus (LASV) is the causative agent of Lassa fever, an often-fatal hemorrhagic disease that is endemic in West Africa. Seven genetically distinct LASV lineages have been identified. As part of CEPI's (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) Lassa vaccine development program, we assessed the potential of the human immune system to mount cross-reactive and cross-protective humoral immune responses to antigens from the most prevalent LASV lineages, which are lineages II and III in Nigeria and lineage IV in Sierra Leone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF