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.
