Seasonal changes in vegetation and land use in Lassa-Fever-Prone Areas (Kenema and Kailahun Districts) in Eastern Sierra Leone

Abstract

Lassa Fever is endemic to the eastern region of Sierra Leone. It is a haemorrhagic disease that is often transmitted from rats to humans and then human to humans. Ecological disturbances such as changes in land use involving conversion of natural ecosystems to agriculture, mining or for urban expansion are reported to bring humans into close contact with animals such as the Mastomys rat that carries the Lassa Fever virus thereby posing health problems. The nature and extent of such ecological disturbances or land use changes within areas known to be endemic to Lassa Fever are not clearly understood from a research context in Sierra Leone. This study was therefore undertaken to identify the pattern of changes in land use and cropping practices and their potential to bring humans into close interactions with the Mastomys rat that is the host for the Lassa Fever virus. This research was supported by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme