Arenaviruses articles from across Nature Portfolio

Lassa virus infections in humans can result in severe disease, including hemorrhagic fever. Here the authors describe an mRNA-based Lassa virus vaccine that shows protection without requirement for neutralizing antibody in a guinea pig model of infection.

Lassa virus vaccination is impeded by the limited capacity of vaccine candidates to induce rapid protection. In this study, the authors found that a single shot of a measles-based Lassa vaccine protected nonhuman primates 16 or 8 days after vaccination.

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever that spills over from its rodent reservoir. Continued viral evolution and increasing exposure make Lassa virus a high-risk pathogen. In this Review, Garry highlights new insights into the virology, disease presentation and potential countermeasures.

Five New World mammarenaviruses (NWMs) enter cells via binding to human transferrin receptor 1 (hTfR1). Here, Hickerson et al. show that hTfR1 targeting antibodies partially protect hTfR1-transgenic mice from lethal NWM challenge via competition of anti-hTfR1 antibody and viral glycoprotein for hTfR1.

The L protein of segmented, negative strand RNA viruses contains the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase essential for virus amplification. Here, the authors report cryoEM structures of the Lassa virus L protein in active, RNA-bound states, and provide mechanistic insights.

A new study delineates the origin and transmission pattern of Lassa virus, an important human pathogen.