The first occurrence of the Lassa virus was in 1969, even though it was unbeknownst to the person who contracted it at the time. While in a village named Lassa that was located in Nigeria, missionary Laura Wine contracted a mysterious disease after taking care of a patient that was giving childbirth. It wasn’t until samples of the virus were sent to be researched at Yale University that scientists and virologists alike realized that they were looking at an entirely new virus. Unfortunately, Laura Wine was unable to be separated from others before the virus spread. Luckily, the virus was able to be contained within the western part of Africa due to the fact that the main carrier of the disease, multimammate rats, were only exposed to the Lassa
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The Lassa virus is a single-stranded, enveloped particle contained within a helical capsid that uses two segments of RNA as its genetic material. The larger portion of the RNA segment is responsible for the processes of transcription and replication, while the smaller portion is responsible for the production of the nucleoproteins and the glycoproteins. The glycoproteins are created to lock onto a specific type of cell membrane receptor, called the alpha-dystroglycan receptor. The main targets of the Lassa virus are dendritic cells and endothelial cells. Dendritic cells are cells that live in the immune system of mammals, and they are responsible for managing a molecule known as antigen. Antigen is a very important molecule that is responsible for activating an immune response for its host. Endothelial cells are cells that line the surface of blood vessels. Upon first entering the body of a mammal, the Lassa virus attacks the dendritic cells and shut down the movement of antigen. With the antigen out of the way, the virus is able to move on to infect other cells all over the body without having to worry about the host’s immune response kicking in. The virus most commonly starts with cells that are associated with mucous membranes, and then moves on to infect the blood stream so that it can be
The Lassa virus is a single-stranded, enveloped particle contained within a helical capsid that uses two segments of RNA as its genetic material. The larger portion of the RNA segment is responsible for the processes of transcription and replication, while the smaller portion is responsible for the production of the nucleoproteins and the glycoproteins. The glycoproteins are created to lock onto a specific type of cell membrane receptor, called the alpha-dystroglycan receptor. The main targets of the Lassa virus are dendritic cells and endothelial cells. Dendritic cells are cells that live in the immune system of mammals, and they are responsible for managing a molecule known as antigen. Antigen is a very important molecule that is responsible for activating an immune response for its host. Endothelial cells are cells that line the surface of blood vessels. Upon first entering the body of a mammal, the Lassa virus attacks the dendritic cells and shut down the movement of antigen. With the antigen out of the way, the virus is able to move on to infect other cells all over the body without having to worry about the host’s immune response kicking in. The virus most commonly starts with cells that are associated with mucous membranes, and then moves on to infect the blood stream so that it can be