DIRECTOR of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGRID), Professor Christian Happi says that the genome-wide scan in Nigeria shows that people in southwestern Nigeria are better protected genetically from the virus and the reason the infection is less rampant in the region.
Professor Happi, in the 2022 Professor Olumbe Bassir Distinguished Guest Lecture titled “Genomic Characterisation and Surveillance of Microbial Threats in West Africa”, said some people are genetically protected from Lassa fever because the disease emerged in western Nigeria about 1,185 years ago.
According to him, “they are genetically protected from Lassa fever because of what is called genetic natural selection among populations. The disease has selected people that will continue to survive in some parts of Nigeria, where the virus has been very old.
“But then in other parts of West Africa, because the virus is young, it has not created that level of selection yet and still kills people that much. Remember that the virus on its own is trying to survive, so eventually, we have a situation where people are naturally selected to survive the virus. That is what happens in some parts of Nigeria.”
Happi, a professor of molecular biology and genomics, however, said apart from rats, the Lassa fever virus is also spread by domestic animals like dogs and cats and Nigerians should be wary of how they handle their pets.
On Ebola fever, he said Nigeria needs to be vigilant and maintain public health education on its signs and symptoms as part of Nigeria’s preparedness for any epidemic.
While noting that disease surveillance is the duty of all stakeholders and the government, he called for increased investment in vaccine production and enabling an environment for research and development to thrive.
“Africa is blessed, it is all about us tapping into the biodiversity that we have to start driving research and innovation and make foreign reserves from it. Africa needs to take advantage of this biodiversity to start moving ahead with the rest of the world.”
Chairman, board of trustees of the Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (TBBF), Professor Oladele Kale, represented by Professor Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa said the foundation started in 1974 with the sole aim of building capacity in biomedical research as well as showcase eminent researchers in the country.