Publications by authors named "Testimony Olumade"
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
Article Synopsis
- * This study utilized metagenomic sequencing to analyze mosquito samples collected from Yellow fever outbreaks in Nigeria between 2017 and 2020, focusing on Aedes and Anopheles species.
- * A total of seven distinct viruses were identified, expanding the understanding of insect-specific viruses (ISVs) and their potential link to pathogenic viruses, demonstrating the effectiveness of advanced sequencing technology in virology research.
Article Synopsis
- The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Africa has varied significantly across countries, and its overall impact remains unclear.
- An analysis of 8,746 genomes from 33 African countries indicated that most outbreaks originated from Europe before international travel restrictions took effect.
- As the pandemic continued, increased movement and local transmission led to the emergence of several variants within Africa, emphasizing the need for a strong pandemic response on the continent to prevent becoming a source of new variants.
VGEA: an RNA viral assembly toolkit.
PeerJ
September 2021
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.
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- Researchers found that the LARGE gene is crucial for how Lassa virus binds and enters human cells, linking it to natural selection in populations in Nigeria, particularly the Yoruba.
- They suggest that the rise of diseases like Lassa fever is more about increased detection capabilities than the emergence of new viruses, indicating humans may have been exposed to these pathogens for longer than thought.
- This groundwork inspired the Sentinel project, aimed at early detection and characterization of pathogens globally through its core strategies of detection, information sharing, and empowering public health systems to enhance pandemic preparedness.
Shiga toxigenic strains of E. coli (STEC) known to be etiological agents for diarrhea were screened for their incidence/occurrence in selected abattoirs sources in Osogbo metropolis of Osun State, Nigeria using a randomized block design. Samples were plated directly on selective and differential media and E.
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- Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects around 2 billion people worldwide, leading to about 800,000 deaths annually from liver-related diseases, with significant prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa where many people also have HIV.
- A study screened 250 HIV/AIDS patients for HBV, finding an 8% co-infection rate, and compared their serological profiles to HBV-only patients, highlighting key differences.
- The study revealed that the average age of HIV/HBV co-infected individuals was higher (45.5 years) than those with only HBV (30.5 years), with a higher percentage of females in the co-infected group, and shown variations in serological markers like HBeAg and H
Article Synopsis
- The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in December 2019, has impacted over 95 million people worldwide, with over 2 million deaths reported by January 2021.
- A study analyzed clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Africa using data from seven studies encompassing 4,499 patients up to October 2020.
- Key findings revealed that 68.8% of infected patients were male, with common symptoms being fever (42.8%), cough (33.3%), and breathing issues (16.8%), and the fatality rate stood at 5.6%.
Article Synopsis
- * The study analyzed health records of 154 COVID-19 patients between May and August 2020, revealing a 2.6% mortality rate, with a majority being symptomatic, male, and presenting with common symptoms like fever and dry cough.
- * Findings indicate that older age and co-morbidities may increase the severity of COVID-19 in affected individuals, providing crucial insights into the demographic and clinical profile of patients in Nigeria.
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 PDFRecent outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), including Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Lassa fever (LF), highlight the urgent need for sensitive, deployable tests to diagnose these devastating human diseases. Here we develop CRISPR-Cas13a-based (SHERLOCK) diagnostics targeting Ebola virus (EBOV) and Lassa virus (LASV), with both fluorescent and lateral flow readouts. We demonstrate on laboratory and clinical samples the sensitivity of these assays and the capacity of the SHERLOCK platform to handle virus-specific diagnostic challenges.
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