News Investigators/ Alash’le Abimiku, the Executive Director of the International Centre of Excellence (IRCE) has said that similarities among different Lassa virus strains offer hope for a single vaccine to protect against the disease across West Africa.
The IRCE, is a centre of excellence established in 2016 by the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN).
Prof. Abimiku made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, ahead of the institute’s 3rd Annual Scientific Symposium to hold on Monday and Tuesday.
NAN reports that the symposium, is with theme: “Combating Viral Threats through Public Health Response and Research.”
Prof. Abimiku, while speaking on the institute’s focus areas in tackling infectious diseases prevalent in the region, said the centre had conducted a study in both the virus and the rodents that transmit lassa fever to better understand how strains vary across states and countries.
“One of the first studies we did is to understand how the strains are changing.
“We also studied the rodent, the rat that carries this virus, its characteristics and behaviours in Bauchi, Edo and other states.
“This helps us determine if the strains are the same or different,” she explained.
According to her, although the Lassa fever virus exhibits minor mutations, results so far indicate that the strains across Nigeria are very similar.
“That is good for vaccine development because if you make one vaccine, it can cut across,” she said.
She said Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus, usually transmitted to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected rats.
“According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), symptoms often include fever, general weakness, headaches, sore throat, chest pain, nausea, and in severe cases, bleeding from the gums, nose, or gastrointestinal tract.
”The disease is endemic in Nigeria, with cases reported annually in multiple states, particularly Edo, Ondo, and Bauchi. Case fatality rates can reach up to 15–20 per cent among hospitalised patients, making it a major public health concern,” she said.
She said the fact that strains of the virus in Nigeria are largely similar is significant, as it increases the possibility that a single vaccine could provide effective protection across different regions of the country and potentially across West Africa, where the disease is also endemic.
She revealed that several candidate vaccine trials were ongoing across West Africa, including Nigeria, Liberia, and Senegal, adding that findings from Nigeria’s research would be crucial in shaping their effectiveness.
She stressed that IHVN would continue to ensure its studies meet the highest international standards so that outcomes can have global relevance.
On HIV/AIDS, she noted that while research had slowed due to the suspension of U.S. government funding, efforts were still ongoing.
“Our research on HIV-AIDS has been slowed down a little bit because of funding.
”Talk to our chief operating officer, he has been pushing different governments and different organisations on why they should begin to fund research that we do so that such disruptions do not affect the work we do,” she said.
She said that once a safe and effective vaccine is developed, it could be a game-changer in reducing the annual toll of Lassa fever in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
NAN report that in week 34: the NCDC confirms three new cases of Lassa Fever, recording 160 deaths in 2025.
The three confirmed cases were in Edo and Ondo states, covering Aug. 18 to Aug. 24.
The figure is a drop from the five cases recorded the previous week.
So far this year, Nigeria recorded 857 confirmed cases and 160 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 18.7 per cent higher than the 17.1 per cent recorded in the same period in 2024.
According to the report, 21 states across 106 LGAs have logged at least one confirmed case, with Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Taraba and Ebonyi accounting for 90 per cent of infections.
The most affected age group remains 21 to 30 years.
NAN
