Publications

first detection of mycobacteria in african rodents and insectivores, using stratified pool screening.	with the rising number of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)/aids in developing countries, the control of mycobacteria is of growing importance. previous studies have shown that rodents and insectivores are carriers of mycobacteria. however, it is not clear how widespread mycobacteria are in these animals and what their role is in spreading them. therefore, the prevalence of mycobacteria in rodents and insectivores was studied in and around morogoro, tanzania. live rodents were tra ...	2008	18065608
mopeia virus-related arenavirus in natal multimammate mice, morogoro, tanzania.	a serosurvey involving 2,520 small mammals from tanzania identified a hot spot of arenavirus circulation in morogoro. molecular screening detected a new arenavirus in natal multimammate mice (mastomys natalensis), morogoro virus, related to mopeia virus. only a small percentage of mice carry morogoro virus, although a large proportion shows specific antibodies.	2009	19961688
sympatric occurrence of 3 arenaviruses, tanzania.	to determine the specificity of morogoro virus for its reservoir host, we studied its host range and genetic diversity in tanzania. we found that 2 rodent species other than mastomys natalensis mice carry arenaviruses. analysis of 340 nt of the viral rna polymerase gene showed sympatric occurrence of 3 distinct arenaviruses.	2010	20350390
presence of mopeia virus, an african arenavirus, related to biotope and individual rodent host characteristics: implications for virus transmission.	abstract the east african mopeia virus (mopv) is an arenavirus closely related to the highly pathogenic west african lassa virus, even sharing the same reservoir rodent host mastomys natalensis. because mopv is not known to cause human disease, it offers a unique alternative for studying lassa virus transmission. we investigated how habitat, population density, and host characteristics are related to mopv occurrence in m. natalensis populations in morogoro, tanzania. in 3 contrasting habitats, 5 ...	2010	21142956
trichuris spp. (nematoda: trichuridae) from two rodents, mastomys natalensis and gerbilliscus vicinus in tanzania.	during a survey of the helminth community of several rodent species in the morogoro region (tanzania), trichuris whipworms (nematoda: trichuridae) were found in the ceca of the natal multimammate mouse, mastomys natalensis and a gerbil, gerbilliscus vicinus (both rodentia: muridae). the taxonomic literature regarding trichuris from african native rodents describes 10 species, but includes few metric and morphologic characters that discriminate between some of the pairs. the whipworms we sampled ...	2013	23560615
gairo virus, a novel arenavirus of the widespread mastomys natalensis: genetically divergent, but ecologically similar to lassa and morogoro viruses.	despite its near pan-african range, the natal multimammate mouse, mastomys natalensis, carries the human pathogen lassa virus only in west africa, while the seemingly non-pathogenic arenaviruses mopeia, morogoro, and luna have been detected in this semi-commensal rodent in mozambique/zimbabwe, tanzania and zambia, respectively. here, we describe a novel arenavirus in m. natalensis from gairo district of central tanzania, for which we propose the name "gairo virus". surprisingly, the virus is not ...	2015	25559385
shedding dynamics of morogoro virus, an african arenavirus closely related to lassa virus, in its natural reservoir host mastomys natalensis.	arenaviruses can cause mild to severe hemorrhagic fevers. humans mainly get infected through contact with infected rodents or their excretions, yet little is known about transmission dynamics within rodent populations. morogoro virus (morv) is an old world arenavirus closely related to lassa virus with which it shares the same host species mastomys natalensis. we injected morv in its host, and sampled blood and excretions at frequent intervals. infection in adults was acute; viral rna disappeare ...	2015	26022445
polymorphism in vkorc1 gene of natal multimammate mice, mastomys natalensis, in tanzania.	resistance of rodents to anticoagulant rodenticides has emerged in several areas across the world. single nucleotide mutations in the vkorc1 gene have been shown to elicit various levels of anticoagulant resistance, and these mutations are prevalent in several rattus and mus musculus populations. in sub-saharan africa, the natal multimammate mouse, mastomys natalensis, is one of the most damaging pests to crops, and anticoagulant poisons such as bromadiolone are frequently used to control these ...	2016	26223233
genetic distinction between contiguous urban and rural multimammate mice in tanzania despite gene flow.	special conditions are required for genetic differentiation to arise at a local geographical scale in the face of gene flow. the natal multimammate mouse, mastomys natalensis, is the most widely distributed and abundant rodent in sub-saharan africa. a notorious agricultural pest and a natural host for many zoonotic diseases, it can live in close proximity to humans and appears to compete with other rodents for the synanthropic niche. we surveyed its population genetic structure across a 180-km t ...	2016	27306876
when viruses don't go viral: the importance of host phylogeographic structure in the spatial spread of arenaviruses.	many emerging infections are rna virus spillovers from animal reservoirs. reservoir identification is necessary for predicting the geographic extent of infection risk, but rarely are taxonomic levels below the animal species considered as reservoir, and only key circumstances in nature and methodology allow intrinsic virus-host associations to be distinguished from simple geographic (co-)isolation. we sampled and genetically characterized in detail a contact zone of two subtaxa of the rodent mas ...	2017	28076397
no measurable adverse effects of lassa, morogoro and gairo arenaviruses on their rodent reservoir host in natural conditions.	in order to optimize net transmission success, parasites are hypothesized to evolve towards causing minimal damage to their reservoir host while obtaining high shedding rates. for many parasite species however this paradigm has not been tested, and conflicting results have been found regarding the effect of arenaviruses on their rodent host species. the rodent mastomys natalensis is the natural reservoir host of several arenaviruses, including lassa virus that is known to cause lassa haemorrhagi ...	2017	28449693
arenavirus dynamics in experimentally and naturally infected rodents.	infectious diseases of wildlife are typically studied using data on antibody and pathogen levels. in order to interpret these data, it is necessary to know the course of antibodies and pathogen levels after infection. such data are typically collected using experimental infection studies in which host individuals are inoculated in the laboratory and sampled over an extended period, but because laboratory conditions are controlled and much less variable than natural conditions, the immune respons ...	2017	28616660